Sonic 2006 Rewrite
by InfernalTimekeeper
Summary: As the fan-made PC version of "Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)" is being developed, there are limitations as to what can be done to the story. As such, this Fan-Fiction intends to answer the question (in terms of the story), "What if Sonic '06 was good?"
1. Author's Notes

Before I begin this story, please understand that this is my first Fan-Fiction **and** I am doing this to practice my writing skills for novel-writing (which I hope to do one day for more original ideas). Though I intend to see this project through to the very end, I make no promises.

However, even though I say that this is my first Fan-Fiction, I implore you, the reader, to offer any comments about the Fan-Fiction-do **not** go easy on me! Any comments, be they compliments or critiques, are worth my time; though I particularly would like remarks on the writing style in order to refine it, comments concerning the story among other things are still encouraged.

With those things out of the way, it should be stated that as a re-write of Sonic '06, there will be changes. **If you just want to start reading the story, head over to the next chapter.** The most prominent changes are as follows:

1) Out with Elise, in with Blaze - I switched out Elise and included Blaze for two reasons, the first of which being that Elise is mostly hated by the Sonic fan-base. Though I myself am indifferent to Elise, I excluded her for the majority's sake. I may include her towards the end of the story, assuming I finish this thing. The second reason for this change was to give Blaze more development and to improve the story's logic. Nevertheless, I will do my best to not make Blaze look like a damsel in distress and keep her (and everyone else) in character.

2) Main and Side - Since some of the side missions are required to progress through the story-not to mention a Fan-Fiction cannot fully capture every aspect of the game,- I tried to adjust the side missions and make them flow between the main events. Speaking of which, the good news about Fan-Fiction is that there is only one (and not usually long) loading screen!

3) Dialogue - Some lines will be changed to ease up on the _overly dark and serious_ tone of the game, while others will replace the more cheesy ones (as much as we love them).

4) Surprising Appearances - A few characters not originally in the game but have been present in previous games will be included. One even shows up in Wave Ocean!

Other changes may occur, but until then (in the famous words of Sonic himself), "What you see is what you get!"

I hope you enjoy.


	2. Chapter 1 (Sonic)

**Chapter 1 (Sonic): The Kidnapping of Princess Blaze**

Fireworks brought light to the midnight black sky as the boat slowly made its way ceremoniously across still water. The crowd cheered while the boat passed in response to the sight of the royal figure standing atop it: Princess Blaze, who responded in kind to their ovations.

And why wouldn't they cheer? It's not often the Princess of Soleanna appears in public.

The Soleanna Festival of the Sun _was_ the most significant event in Soleanna's history. Each year, the city of water celebrates the sun god, Solaris, who gives the citizens hope with his eternal flames. Blaze, the princess blessed with those same flames, is a symbol of Soleanna's peace and security.

For the princess to not attend the ceremony, it wouldn't sit right with many.

Consequently, Princess Blaze was there as the festivities proceeded. Not that she minded, anyway. In fact, Blaze enjoyed the change in the town's mood during the festival. Normally, everything was, quite frankly, boring. Even if the people managed to find something they regarded as exciting in town, Blaze was still a princess at the end of the day. She must be protected. She must handle the affairs the people would not deal with and would most likely be frightened to do. She must keep her people calm and happy.

Every day of every year.

Except today, for the most part.

Yes, Blaze did have to deal with some officials from other nations and her usual stack of paperwork, she was allowed to relax when the afternoon arrived to prepare for the festival. It brought the lavender-furred, anthropomorphic cat princess a sense of ease from the stress of being nobility.

 _If only every day could be like this…_ she thought to herself.

The boat finally reached its destination: a small marble landmass with six torch pillars on smaller circular landmasses extending outward from the main; in the middle was one larger torch which, like the others, was waiting to be lit.

Being in the middle of a pond, this landmass truly was the Heart of Soleanna's Castle Town.

Blaze strode up the stairs with her entourage towards the members of her council, a few handmaidens and one of the holy priests of Soleanna. The priest smiled sincerely at Blaze as she stopped before him, and she stood in respect as he began the sermon:

"Oh great Solaris, who has given us hope and life with his eternal flames, hear our cries of joy…"

The priest had only begun the homily when Blaze's mind started to wonder, but not of her own wishes. Her gold eyes saw her city burst with a sudden light, leaving Soleanna engulfed in hellfire. When she looked down, she found herself floating above her now scorching city, toxic fumes arising from the flames.

A distant growl brought her attention from her feet to a rising creature in front of her. It, too, was covered in orange flames, but being the source of the destruction, it was indifferent to it.

 _No…_ Blaze shuddered in fear.

The creature, as if hearing her thoughts, turned its head towards her.

 _No, no…_ Blaze shut her eyes, shaking her head in an attempt to wake up from this nightmarish vision.

The creature roared a monstrous cry.

 _No!_ Blaze screamed, but no words resonated from her mouth.

"Miss Blaze?"

The voice of her anthropomorphic rabbit handmaiden snapped Blaze out of her daydream. As Blaze turned her head to meet her eyes, she could see the concern on the handmaiden's face. Blaze tried to hide her distress with a comforting smile. "It…it's alright," she said.

Blaze made an interior effort to relax. She was back in Soleanna, the city of water, not fire. The priest had finished his sermon and was waiting for Blaze to begin the grand finale: the lighting of the torches.

 _It was just a nightmare,_ Blaze told herself.

But it wasn't. She had been having these 'nightmares' for the past couple of months, and they were increasing. It was always the same: Soleanna destroyed, a monster of fire and, occasionally, a white anthropomorphic hedgehog looking down at her with sincerity.

Blaze wished she knew what it all meant, but she could never find an exact answer. However, she had a feeling—no, she knew—that the visions were related to her powers.

Nevertheless, the Princess of Soleanna was not going to let these visions interrupt the ceremony.

Blaze bowed before the priest, the priest returning it. In his hands was a lit wooden torch, the flames dancing slowly in the air. Using her powers, Blaze took the flame out of the torch and held it above her hands as she closed her eyes and began the prayer.

"We give thanks for the blessed flames. May we always continue to have peace. Sun of Soleanna, guide and watch over us with your eternal light." As she finished speaking, Blaze walked forward to a small urn filled with gasoline; from the urn were small extensions that led to each of the torch pillars, including the large torch in front of her. After taking a small pause to let the anticipation set it, Blaze sent the flame into the urn, igniting the gasoline. The fire spread to each of the torches, erupting a beauty of light in the night.

The crowd roared in applause as the festival came to a close. Blaze and her companions beside her smiled at the enthusiastic audience around them. More fireworks were exploding in the air to commemorate the lighting of the torches, only increasing the excitement.

 _Not even bad visions can ruin this moment_ , Blaze told herself. _Everything is fine._

As Blaze waved to the people, citizens and visitors alike, a series of bangs rumbled the area and buildings around her, but they were not fireworks. The cheers that had once erupted from the crowd transformed into shrieks of terror and fear. Looking up towards the source of the mysterious explosions, Blaze could make out a red militaristic vessel floating in the sky.

"GUN?" Blaze asked herself, too inaudible to hear due to the panic and noise.

 _No, it can't be,_ Blaze reasoned. _Soleanna has been in negotiations with the United Federation over economic relations. Why would they attack us?_

Blaze's logic proved to be valid as the vessel's underbelly cargo door opened, where silver-black robots emerged and dropped down to surround her and her entourage. As she noted each robot had a gun for one of their arms, the sound of a smaller aircraft lowering towards them caught her attention. Standing in this vehicle was a plump man with a red coat with gold buttons and black pants, as well as green goggles atop his bald head. He appeared to be bowing in respect.

"A pleasure to meet you at last, Princess of Soleanna," the man said, straightening himself to reveal a big mustache, an enormous nose, and tinted glasses. His smile, along with the destruction he had just cause to disrupt the ceremony, told Blaze he cared not for formalities but was merely playing along.

It was, at the most, mockery. An action that Blaze resented.

"I am Dr. Eggman," the man continued, placing his hands behind his back. "I've come here to obtain the secret of the Flames of Disaster from you, and to take one of the miracle gems that are the key to its secret…" The doctor pointed at Blaze's neck area, around which was a necklace which a jewel attached to it.

"The Chaos Emerald!" Eggman finished.

Blaze clutched the emerald tightly with her white gloves, staring in anger at the terrorist in front of her. Eggman simply smiled at her. "Now Princess," he said, gesturing towards his aircraft. "This way, please." Blaze took a few steps back, releasing her hold on the emerald resting atop her purple coat and gold collar. She slowly looked around, observing her surroundings. Most of the citizens have fled the scene, only a few remaining brave enough to watch or report on the incident. Her council, however, was still with her, surrounded by Dr. Eggman's robots.

 _This is insane…_ Blaze thought.

There was an out to this situation, Blaze knew, yet she was hesitant to follow through with it. Just as she was able to manipulate the flame during the ceremony, she could conjure up her own fire to deal with these mindless machines and the madman in front of her. But her powers were dangerous. If she screwed up, one of her citizens may get hurt by her flames, not to mention this Dr. Eggman may start firing upon them.

On the other hand, he wanted the Flames of Disaster, the power Blaze holds deep inside her, and if he is crazy enough to pull this stunt to try and take it from her, no doubt he wants to use the flames for nefarious reasons.

She was at a lost on what to do.

As Blaze continued contemplating on whether it would be best to obey his orders, a sudden wind picked up around the group. However, this was no ordinary wind, as a blue light could be seen following the wind's trail as it circled around them. Eggman started to stiffen at the wind, a sign, Blaze concluded, that he knew what was going on.

And just as it had started, the blue wind died down instantly.

"My…that's a pretty snazzy performance there!"

Blaze gazed up towards one of the columns where the newcomer's voice was and found a blue hedgehog sporting white gloves and red and white stripped shoes lively smiling down at them. For a moment, Blaze thought back to her vision of the white hedgehog in the destroyed Soleanna, but she knew these two could not be the same. Their mannerisms seemed different.

"You!" Eggman growled in irritation. "All units, priority one hedgehog! ATTACK!"

Responding to Eggman's commands, the robots aimed their weapons at the blue hedgehog, firing round after round of bullets and rockets. The hedgehog grinned in amusement, and leapt up high into the air as the ammunition hit the spot where he was standing. The column tore apart upon the heavy impact, leaving behind smoke and embers.

The blue hedgehog rolled in the air, positioning himself for an air attack on the nearest machine. As soon as he made contact with the metal, a quick _cling!_ could be heard before the hedgehog blindingly moved to attack the next robot. Each machine broke due to the speed of impact, and one by one they fell harmoniously. The hedgehog finally landed in front of the last robot, a strong gust of wind bouncing off the pavement and into the robot, sending multiple screws loose. The hedgehog cockily tapped the robot with his shoe and watched amusingly as it fell backwards over the edge and into the water.

Blaze looked behind her to see Eggman frustratingly pound away at the aircraft's control. When Blaze turned her attention back towards the red vessel high in the smoke-filled sky, she could see more robots emerging.

A lot more in numbers and diversity than the ones this newcomer had taken down.

The hedgehog's screeching shoes brought her attention back to him. "I'm Sonic," the hedgehog introduced himself. "Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Right as Blaze was processing his name, the hedgehog known as Sonic sped to her side and lifting her off her feet.

"Woah!" Blaze exclaimed at Sonic's chivalrous act, and she threw her arms around him as he immediately started running away from the scene, hopping over the gap of water between their position and the rest of the city with ease.

"Why are you always getting in my way, you pesky little hedgehog!?" Eggman screamed in anger as his robots finally arrived. Entering in a set of commands on his console, Eggman turned to his robots and pointed at an increasingly distant Sonic and Blaze. "Don't just stand there!" he yelled. "Capture the princess and kill the hedgehog. Remember: I want the princess alive!" The robots, acknowledging his commands, chased after their targets obediently.

* * *

Blaze held onto Sonic tightly as he ran past civilians and structures effortlessly with her in his arms. During this time, she tried to process everything that had just happened: the attack, Eggman's desires, and Sonic's little stunt against the doctor. The way Eggman and Sonic behaved around each other indicated, in Blaze's mind, that they knew each other, and given how Sonic was opposing the man who wants the Flames of Disaster from her, maybe he was a good person.

Still, Blaze preferred to err on the side of caution.

"Um…" she began, trying to capture his attention for a moment. "Why are you helping me?"

Sonic's emerald eyes met her golden eyes, simply answering, "No special reason."

Immediately after his response, Sonic leapt across another stream of water that divided a part of the landmass of the city, landing gracefully on the other side. He then passed into a small alleyway, dimly lit by the windows on the buildings.

"Sonic!" Blaze noticed the five robots before Sonic did, yet the moment their presence registered in him Sonic skidded to a halt and set Blaze on her feet. "No problem!" he proudly remarked, and he initiated his attack. Starting with the robot closest to the two of them, Sonic pressed hard against the ground to launch himself straight into the machine, his shoes making contact with the robot for a second only for him to bounce up into the air. The impact sent the drone flying backwards, parts flying off onto the pathway ahead.

Landing right in front of another of Eggman's robots, Sonic waited for the robot straight across from the two of them to mark his position before letting loose a flurry of bullets. A mistake on the robot's part, as the hedgehog jumped straight up at lightning speed; the bullets, instead of the intended target, wound up assailing the robot right behind it before it could turn quick enough to move. Gazing down at the remaining opponents with a smirk, Sonic let gravity do its work as he fell right on top of the robot that tried to skewer him a second ago, ricocheting off of it and the other two remaining robots like a ball.

Upon completing a flip in the air for finesse, Sonic regained contact with the ground, kneeling to handle the impact. He then stood up to admire his handiwork. The robotic minions of the mad scientist now laid in heaps of scrap metal around the alleyway, never again to torment anyone.

 _This is too easy_ , Sonic thought to himself.

He quickly regretted it.

"Ah!"

"…!"

The sound of Blaze's scream reached Sonic's ears in a heartbeat, the blue hedgehog turning quickly in shock at his own inattentiveness. While he was busy dealing with Eggman's robots, Eggman himself had arrived and captured Blaze using the metallic hand extensions from his floating aircraft. Blaze struggled to break free of the arms to no avail, even with the use of her powers.

"I'm afraid our little game ends now," Eggman declared smugly, the aircraft rising higher away from Sonic's reach.

Fortunately, Blaze was able to loosen one of her arms out of her confinement. Realizing she had no way out, she did the only thing she could.

She ripped off the emerald hanging from her neck and threw it towards Sonic.

"Sonic! Take this!"

Sonic's reflexes allowed him to catch the blue Chaos Emerald in midair. He could hear the emerald's mystical hymn as it found itself in the palm of his hand. "I got it!" he exclaimed. "And don't worry! I'll rescue you!"

"Don't worry about me!" Blaze responded. She had a feeling Sonic would probably try to help her as he had been doing all night, but she didn't want him to get hurt protecting her. Instead, given his speed he may be able to assist her in a different manner. "Just take the emerald and get out of here as fast as you can! I'll be fine!"

Dr. Eggman huffed at the two's exchange. "It's only a matter of time before its mine. Until then, you can hold onto it for me!"

The aircraft then rose at a faster pace to the Egg Carrier high above, docking itself within the doctor's red flagship. After picking up its passengers, the Egg Carrier's engines increased in thrust and sped off in the night sky.

Sonic could do nothing but watch as the Egg Carrier flew over him and away from the city, contemplating the princess' wish concerning him and the Chaos Emerald as he did. "'Forget about me,' she said," Sonic wondered aloud. He then chuckled at the thought. "Sorry, your highness," he apologized, "But I never abandon a person in need. Especially from Eggman." Putting the Chaos Emerald away, Sonic started considering his next move when a familiar voice rang in the air.

"Sonic!"

Behind him was a orange and cream furred fox with two tails, a look of both concern and cheerfulness on his face. His appearance brought surprise to Sonic's face.

"Tails!" Sonic replied in kind as his friend came to a stop in front of him. "Long time, no see."

Tails nodded in affirmation. "I was invited to come to Soleanna to assist in creating a new self-marketing machine; I was developing it in one of the local shops when I saw what Eggman did on TV." Tails looked around for a brief moment in confusion. "Didn't you save Princess Blaze from Eggman."

Sonic shook his head in earnest. "I did, but Eggman got the drop on me. Blaze is with him on the Egg Carrier as we speak."

Tails expressed disappointment for a second, but then appeared to have realized something. "You're going to rescue her, aren't you?" he asked. Sonic responded by crossing his arms and giving a simple nod. Tails, knowing Sonic wouldn't give up so easily, then said, "Let me help. I may not know what Eggman's up to, but it can't be a good thing!"

Sonic didn't take long to answer Tails' offer of assistance. "Ok. With your help, this should be a piece of cake!" He ended his statement with a thumbs up of approval.

Tails chuckled sheepishly. "I'll do my best!" he exclaimed. "Let's head back to the place I've been staying at. I can calculate Eggman's trajectory and see where he's heading." Sonic agreed, and the two headed off.

* * *

"Hello?" Tails called. "Mr. Robert?"

Sonic and Tails had made their way to the southeastern portion of Soleanna's Castle Town, where Tails resided in an annex atop of Soleanna's main item store. The store, situated near a small fountain and one of the three bell towers overlooking the town, was surely old-fashioned in terms of texture, yet it was easy to find despite blending in with the rest of the city.

By now, the town was starting to liven up again as people relaxed now that Eggman had departed. Conversely, the news of Princess Blaze's capture quickly spread, troubling the citizens with regards to the loss of their ruler. While standards have been made to deal with such scenarios, Blaze's reputation and actions as Princess of Soleanna have helped brought about peace in the city; without her, will such a peace continue? Even the guards who were there when Eggman attacked the Festival of Light could do nothing but watch as the evil genius with his superior weaponry take the one person they were assigned to protect while they couldn't put a dent in his forces. How could they protect Soleanna and its prosperity if someone akin to Eggman (or worse) were to show up and assault the town?

Fortunately, Sonic and Tails kept their spirits up amid the tension as the latter had begun tracing the Egg Carrier's path of travel on their way to the shop. Now that they had reached the shop, Tails wanted to see if the owner of the shop was still awake.

"Oh, is that you, Tails?" An old-sounding voice echoed from above the shop's floor. An old man came down the creaking stairs and smiled at the two-tailed fox, but expressed surprise at Sonic. "I see you've brought a guest," he said. "Will he be staying here for the night?"

Tails shook his head. "Not now, but maybe later. He and I are working together to rescue the princess."

The shopkeeper's eyes widen when he heard this. "Wait a minute…that was you trying to protect Princess Blaze on the TV?"

Sonic smiled. "Yup," he said. "Name's Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog."

The shopkeeper returned the expression. "My name is Alberto Robert, the owner of this store." He paused for a moment to cough lightly, then continued. "I think I speak for everyone in Soleanna that we appreciate your assistance."

Sonic shook his head humbly. "Don't worry about it. I do this stuff all the time."

Alberto chuckled at Sonic's pride. It seemed that the town didn't hold Sonic responsible for failing to save Blaze from Eggman, and the citizens may find it much more reassuring that he is still trying to save her.

Tails, who had gone up the stairs while Sonic and Alberto conversed with each other, popped his head out from above. "Mr. Roberto," he said. "Given the circumstances, I think I'd like to give Sonic his surprise now. It wouldn't happen to be ready, would it?"

Alberto, knowing full well what Tails was talking about, nodded in affirmation. "I just finished them today. I'll get them for him."

Tails smiled appreciatively at Alberto, then turned his attention to Sonic. "I'm almost done. I just need to make a few more calculations."

Sonic shook his head in understanding. After Tails went back upstairs, Sonic returned his gaze to Alberto. "My surprise?" he questioned.

Alberto, having retrieved a box from one of the cubicles in the store, handed it to Sonic. When Sonic opened the box, he found a set of shoes bearing the same red-and-white-striped look as his Power Sneakers.

"I've been making shoes in this town for a very long time," Alberto explained. "But I wanted to make the ultimate shoes for someone, someone who would try to wear them down constantly, be it on purpose or not. When your friend Tails asked if I could make a special pair of shoes for you, I saw this as the perfect opportunity to make them. With Tails' help, I was able to make these."

Sonic gripped both of the shoes out of the box and admired them. The detail on the leather shoes were exquisite, and the gold buckle felt smooth to the touch. But what truly caught Sonic's eye were the back of the shoes, for a set of different colored gems lined the bottom of the shoes.

"These shoes," Alberto explained, "Use the power of Soleanna's mysterious stones to change the user's physical attributes." Taking a pause, Alberto lifted his hands grandiosely. "I'm calling them…Custom Shoes!"

Sonic sat down in a chair, taking off his Power Sneakers and placing the Custom Shoes on in their place. The shoes fit like a glove, and the interior made for a comfortable feel. Sonic smiled approvingly. "These are great!" he stated. "Thanks!"

Alberto's face filled with joy. "You are most welcome. The best shoes in the world, worn by the best runner in the world. I'm so happy!"

Tails raced down the stairs as soon as he verified his results. He overheard Sonic and Alberto's reaction and wanted to see how the shoes looked on his friend. Seeing them on Sonic's feet, Tails asked how the shoes were.

"They're perfect," Sonic said. "I've been needing a new pair for a while. Thank you!"

Tails rubbed his hand behind his head, embarrassed at Sonic's appreciativeness. "Aw, it was nothing!" Tails responded. "Besides, Alberto did most of the work." Alberto smiled at the compliment. Tails then smirked. "I've figured out where Eggman's going. He's going to stop at Wave Ocean. If we hurry, we can save Princess Blaze while he's there!"

Sonic grinned, looking down at his new shoes. "Looks like I'll best testing these first at the beach." He then looked back at Alberto. "Thanks again!"

Alberto bowed his head. "It was an honor to make them, as well as to meet you, Sonic. Please save our highness."

Sonic silently shook his head as a promise. "Let's go!" he said to Tails, and the two headed off for Wave Ocean.

* * *

The sun was up high in the sky by the time Sonic and Tails reached the closely nested set of isles that was Wave Ocean. The rocky formations, palm trees and marine wildlife made for exotic sights, but the only thing the two heroes found themselves focusing on were Eggman's robots patrolling the islands.

"This has got to be the place," Tails assumed. Sonic nodded, and glancing down from the top of a rock formation on one of the islands, he became stiff at the sight of the amount of water present in the area.

Sonic hated water. To be accurate, he didn't hate the water itself but the act of drowning in it. Unable to swim, if he were to fall in Sonic would not be able to survive for long. Having found himself in numerous situations underwater, he had grown accustomed to dealing with oceans and ponds.

In the end, experience did nothing to eliminate his fear of drowning. However, he was able to push back his misgivings about the environment and focus on the situation at hand.

"Come on," Sonic said. "We've got to hurry and save Blaze!"

Tails agreed, prompting the two to race down the rocky slope towards the enemy ahead. While Sonic was able to use his speed to allow him to travel on top of the ocean water, Tails was able to traverse in a different manner. Using his two tails, he was able to spin them at the right velocity to create lift, allowing him to fly above the water while keeping up with his teammate.

The first patrol of robots ahead took note of the heroes and began firing a stream of bullets. Undeterred, Sonic and Tails dodged the bullets instantly, the bullets striking the seawater instead; drops of liquid shot up from the areas of impact only to fall back down into the now-rippled water.

Once the two were in range, the heroic duo began their counterattack. Sonic swamped the robots on the left with a continuous string of homing attacks. The unfortunate machines were sent flying back into the hard rock behind them, their bodies shattering from the force. Tails, the slower and weaker of the two, chose a different manner of assault. Instead of using his fists, Tails relied instead on capsules that contained miniature mine bombs that spread out and blow up upon contact with their intended targets. Due to the bombs' resemblance to golden rings, Tails suitably named the bombs "Dummy Rings." Throwing a Dummy Ring capsule at the other group of robots on the right, Tails watched in satisfaction as the rings reduced Eggman's machines to rubble.

As robotic parts found a new home on the sand, Sonic and Tails nodded at each other and continued moving forward. Similar situations occurred as they hopped from island to island in search of the Egg Carrier, but every time the same case of dodge and attack yielded success.

"This is too easy!" Sonic exclaimed. Tails couldn't help but laugh at Sonic's comment. He was right, of course. For Eggman's IQ of 300 and façade of terror, his robots were, for the most part, effortless to defeat.

Racing up and down one of the small hills, Sonic sped off the stony ground and once again found himself running on water. When he looked back to make sure Tails was following close by, he noticed a black-and-white object moving towards him. Upon close examination, the creature was not a machine but was, in fact, an orca swimming towards him. Whether it wanted to eat or play with Sonic, it did not matter to the hedgehog.

What mattered was that the orca was chasing him.

"That's a big one!" Sonic shouted, and increased his pace as he made his way for a nearby wooden platform. Ascending up to the platform's level, his shoes brought an echo with each step to the floorboard beneath them.

Floorboards that the orca seemed to have no consideration for, for it charged right through the timber platform. The wood broke apart and flew up in the air like confetti, leaving no way to go back the same way for the hedgehog. Not that Sonic minded; he was one for always moving forward, never backwards—well, unless he was running backwards, but that's another thing.

Still, this whole incident—the orca chasing him in such a manner, Sonic trying to help a friend—it brought back memories from a far-gone adventure.

Following the ever-changing path of the walkway, Sonic glanced ahead to find himself not only running out of road but that two other orcas were there, one of which was tearing up the other end of the walkway.

"Jump!" Tails yelled. Sonic, making split-second judgements, leapt upwards towards one of the larger chunks of board and bounced off of it towards another, repeating the process until he began to run out of areas to leap. Acknowledging this, he jumped off the last piece and, vaulting over the orca that rammed into the walkway, caught hold of the other orca's top fin.

The sudden feeling of a stranger on top of the orca caused it to swim purely out of instinct, rising and falling cyclically. The sound of the water being disrupted by the motion of the orca would make any marine biologist gasp in astonishment.

Sonic, meanwhile, was holding on for dear life. Lose his grip now, and his last destination will be the seafloor. Despite this predicament, the blue hedgehog was enjoying the moment, the thrill making adrenaline surge through his body. Besides, he could use the orca to travel via the ocean for a bit in search of the Egg Carrier.

That is, if the orca didn't exit the area through the open black gate ahead.

"Tails!" Sonic shouted. "Go on ahead and push the gate switch so he doesn't get out!"

"Ok, Sonic!" Tails replied. "I'll be right back!" With that said, Tails flew past Sonic and the orca, heading straight towards the gate itself. Examining the gate critically, Tails found no platforms where the gate's controls were. However, he did notice a string of protected cables extended from the bottom of the gate. Tracking the cables, he found they lead to one of the islands which, compared to the previous ones, was swarming with Eggman's robots.

Unlike the robots they had been dealing with up till now (which were present in the bunch), a different variety of robots were stationed on the sand. Both were smaller but took up more space horizontally-speaking. One set flew and shot missiles instead of bullets, the other continued to take up residence on the ground but used plated arms to attack. The difference between the two was that for the latter set, one of the robots in the group was painted black and red in contrast to white and black.

Knowing Eggman, Tails recognized the misfit as the controller, and by destroying it the other robots would fall as a result. As such, Tails stopped flying and let gravity help him build up acceleration as he aimed to land right on top of the controller. But the controller reacted to Tails' attack by locking its shielded arms above its head. Tails made contact with the plating and rebounded, flipping himself 180-degrees in the air and throwing a capsule of Dummy Rings at the controller, now completely exposed. The bombs ripped the robots to shreds, and its companions fell in the sand due to losing connection. The sight made Tails proud, showing how much he progressed.

The other set of robots flying above locked their sights on the orange fox, firing a string of heat-seeking missiles. Tails dodged just in the nick of time, the resulting explosions sending sand up in the air. Tails coughed as some of the sand got caught in his mouth. Glaring at the robots, he took to the skies again, preparing another set of Dummy Rings for his opponents. After missing another round of missiles, Tails dropped the bombs right on top of the machines, the bombs exploding on contact. The machines broke much faster than the previous models, most likely due to their more exposed bodies. Nevertheless, the formerly flying robots joined their comrades on the beach below in disrepair.

"Tails!" Sonic shouted in distress. "Hurry up!"

Regaining his focus, Tails looked around for the cables again. Having found them extending upwards towards the top of one of the rocky structures on the beach, Tails flew up and found the gate controls.

 _Eggman probably put this up here to avoid trespassers from messing with his operations_ , Tails thought. Flipping the switch, he watched as the gate closed down just as Sonic and the orca were drawing near it. The orca, seeing its path blocked off, went in the direction of the beach Tails was stationed at. As the creature drew close enough to the shore, Sonic let go of the fin and stepped onto the beach.

"Thank you, Tails," Sonic said relieved. "You saved me!"

"Heh, heh!" Tails chuckled bashfully. "It was nothing!"

Sonic smiled sincerely. Tails had gotten stronger since the day they first met, which coincidentally was on a beach. Sonic found the young inventor fine-tuning his airplane on the shore of a beach somewhere just for the sake of his passion. Given his ability to fly at a relatively fast speed and his desire to be as cool as Sonic, the hero let the two-tailed fox tag along with him on many adventures since then.

In a way, their friendship was akin to that of brothers, and Sonic was proud of how far Tails had grown.

Returning his attention to the island, Sonic said, "I saw the robots you were dealing with. The fact that there's a lot of them must mean we're getting close."

Tails nodded in agreement. "I was thinking the same thing. Let's explore the island for Eggman and the princess."

Just as the two were about to begin their search, a mysterious new robot dropped down on the beach in front of them. Its body, colored a deep shade of blue and silver-grey, rose to the same height as Sonic; its crimson red eyes burned bright with determination.

Perhaps most shocking about this robot was how similar it looked to Sonic.

"Metal!?" Sonic exclaimed in surprise. The hero knew this robot all too well. While most of Eggman's robots were easily breakable and common, Metal Sonic was specially made to take any pounding Sonic could throw at him, as well as match his speed in a fight. Sonic had beaten the robotic hedgehog plenty of times before in the past, of course, but each encounter Sonic found his doppelganger had learned a few new tricks, making him one of his most dangerous adversaries.

Metal Sonic emitted a series of beeps, pointing one of his sharp fingers at Sonic.

"It sounds like he can't talk," Tails noted. Sonic figured this as well. Last time he faced Metal Sonic, the robot was capable of expressing his jealousy of being Sonic's copy and tried to prove his superiority by eliminating the blue blur.

Sonic smiled amused. "Guess Eggman wanted payback for you locking him in a cell, huh?" Sonic asked Metal. The robot growled in rage, and challengingly pointed at Sonic with one of his sharp fingers; he then turned the hand he was using to point at Sonic with and, through his eyes, pretended to crush Sonic's head with it.

Sonic stared blankly at Metal Sonic for a moment, only to return a cocky grin at the robot and take a fighting stance. "If you're here to stop me," Sonic said, "Then bring it!"

Tails also positioned himself for battle with the machine. He remembered the grand fight he, Sonic, and Knuckles had with Metal Sonic a little while back, one of the moments he personally felt he helped Sonic the most. Comparing the situations, Metal Sonic wouldn't be too easy to beat, but he won't be as tough to fight this time around.

Metal Sonic charged at Sonic full-speed, launching a fist straight towards the hedgehog's face. Sonic reactively blocked the fist, adjusting his back foot for the force. Metal followed up with a series of similar strikes, throwing in a few roundhouse kicks in an attempt to land a hit in, but Sonic kept his guard up.

Tails tried to initiate an attack from behind, but Metal, seeing this, exhaled a cloud of smoke from his exhaust port on his back, a new modification the robot was glad Eggman built into him. The smoke burned Tails' eyes as he coughed for air. Metal used this opportunity to launch himself up in the air using the thrusters in his exhaust port and fire a yellow beam of energy at Tails' location. The beam struck the ground with a seismic impact, leaving a burnt area of sand in its place.

But Tails' deceased body was nowhere in the area.

Sonic held onto Tails tightly as his friend tried to regain his vision and breath. Seeing what Metal was planning, he grabbed Tails and hid behind one of the rocky structures out of Metal's line of sight. "Hang in there, little bro," Sonic whispered silently. "I'll keep him busy!" Tails, though disoriented from the smoke, nodded to concur.

Metal Sonic, having scanned the area, found where Tails was taking cover and was about to finish what he started when Sonic leapt from a nearby palm tree and landed an axel kick on the hovering robot. The kick left no dent in the robot, but the force was enough for Sonic to clench in pain a little. It appeared Eggman improved Metal's pain absorber among other things.

Still, Sonic's faced worse threats, some of which involved enemies far tougher than Metal Sonic right now.

Landing on the sandy surface below, Sonic turned to gaze his doppelganger in the eyes. "Hey faker!" he yelled. "You're still slower than me!" Metal became enraged, but only his eyes projected this onto Sonic. Calmly, the robot opened the area inside his circularly caved in body, and from it pulled a glowing red gem that shone brightly in the sun.

Sonic stood agape. "A Chaos Emerald!?"

The gem, clenched in Metal Sonic's hand, reacted to his anger and desire, and in a flash Metal and the Chaos Emerald disappeared. Sonic crunched his teeth tightly as he found himself sent flying by an unseen kick in the head, knowing exactly what had transpired. Landing near the water's edge, Sonic looked at Metal intensely, but smiled at the robot. "Ok," he said, "If that's how you want to play, I can live with that."

Retrieving the blue Chaos Emerald Blaze entrusted to him, Sonic held it tightly as Metal prepared to initiate another attack. "Chaos Control!" Sonic yelled, the emerald reacting to his command. To the two of them, nothing had really occurred, but to someone like Tails, who had just managed to get the last of the gunk of his eyes, the two had vanished. In reality, the power of the emeralds distorted the time around the two opponents as they continued engaging in combat, allowing them to move faster than was clearly visible to the onlooker.

After a few seconds, the two had reappeared in the air, bouncing off each other with equal vigor. They then disappeared again and reappeared in a different location, only to do the same thing over and over. Eventually, they reappeared and both slide away from each other, the sand leaving trails behind as they skidded to a stop.

Sonic was getting a little exhausted from the battle, but he still had enough energy and will to fight on. Metal Sonic, too, appeared to be running out of steam, but he would never yield to his copy.

Tails realized Metal didn't see him yet. Slowly, he grabbed a nearby branch that had fallen off of one of the palm trees near him and began to make his way towards the robot. Sonic, seeing this, tried to keep Metal's attention on him. "Had enough yet?" he asked tauntingly. Metal, refusing to back down, prepared to start another barrage of attacks when Tails struck him in the head from behind. The bark snapped upon collision, but the velocity was just right to send Metal's body crashing into the yellow sand that he had just left a path in. Miraculously, he was able to hold on to the Chaos Emerald as his body hit the ground with a thud.

After waiting a few moments to see if Metal would get back up, Sonic glanced up at Tails. "Nice swing!" he commented. Tails smiled humbly. "You saved me, remember? Just repaying the favor."

Their brief exchange of flattery was interrupted when Metal arose from his spot ticked off. But after looking at the two heroes, he uttered a few electronic beeps of frustration and took for the skies.

Sonic and Tails looked confusedly at each other. "Did he just…give up?" Tails wondered aloud. As Sonic wondered that himself, the two heard a large set of thrusters starting up, a strong breeze soon following. Rising from the other side of the island, the Egg Carrier could be seen blocking the sun's light on the heroes' side. "The Egg Carrier!" Tails exclaimed. The two noticed Metal Sonic flying into the cargo bay of the vessel's underbelly, the doors slowly opening and closing for his arrival.

Sonic finally grasped what had happened. "He was stalling us!" Sonic said annoyed. "Darn! we're not going to make it."

Tails glanced at the Egg Carrier one last time as it began to move forward before turning to Sonic saying, "Sonic, run! I'll catch up. Just go!"

Sonic didn't waste any time and ran along the shore of the island in pursuit. It may be a lost cause, but if he could find a pathway that could get him close, then with the right velocity he could leap from the ground straight upwards and grab onto the Egg Carrier.

He kept running as mach speed until he found a structure that fit just the bill: a series of rocky loops that left a ramp right at the end, directly in line of the Egg Carrier's path of travel. It was a long shot and if he was too slow, he would fall right into the water below, yet Sonic decided to risk it. _Life's no fun without a little danger, right?_ Sonic told himself.

Racing up the structure's steady slope, Sonic prepared himself to jump when the loops finished, upping his speed with each loop. With the last loop finished, Sonic leaped from the structure up into the air towards the Egg Carrier. He reached his hand to grab onto one of the metallic wings extending from the flying ship.

Only to miss by an inch and fall, fortunately, onto the sand of a nearby island.

Breathing heavily, Sonic could do nothing but watch as the Egg Carrier flew over the island out of sight. Sonic knew there would be no point in following on foot now. The Egg Carrier was too high up in the air, and there weren't any islands left to travel on.

After a short time later, Tails arrived to find Sonic staring at the sky. The sight of Sonic alone told him he was unable to catch the Egg Carrier. Since Sonic was chasing the Egg Carrier, Tails decided to explore the area Eggman was stationed at to find that it was merely a supply depot. Plenty of robots and devices were present, but in terms of databases, there were none, meaning Tails could not find any information about where Eggman was heading next.

Sonic took notice of Tails, hoping to hear good news, but Tails regretfully shook his head. Sonic sighed, trying to think of what to do next. Tails broke the silence, though. "Let's head back to the city! GUN is stationed there right now. Maybe they might be able to lend a hand?"

Sonic thought about it for a moment. He and the Guardian Units of Nations hadn't exactly had a good relationship at first, but ever since then he has proven to be a valuable ally to them from time to time. Even a few of Sonic's friends (at least in his mind) were agents of GUN. Smiling, Sonic nodded in agreement, and the two began their journey back to Soleanna's Castle Town.


	3. Chapter 2 (Sonic)

**Chapter 2 (Sonic): Keeping a Promise**

"Here you are," the apple vendor said, handing Tails and Sonic each an apple. The two heroes thanked the merchant for the complimentary apples, offered to them in relation to Soleanna's upcoming Apple Festival; the merchant wanted to see if the harvest of apples was good this year, especially since Soleanna is known not just for its technology but also for its food.

Taking a bite out of their apples, Sonic and Tails knew Soleanna's reputation in the food department preceded it well and made sure to let the vendor know, much to his enthusiasm.

The two found themselves right outside the seaweed green gate leading into Soleanna's New City area, which was closed off by Soleanna's guards at the moment. Strolling past the giant doors and the delicate fountain in front of it, Sonic and Tails continued to eat away at their apples as they made their way to the nearest GUN unit located in the city. Normally, Tails would have suggested going back to his workshop in the Mystic Ruins right outside of Station Square, but given the time it would take to fly over there and Princess Blaze being in Eggman's clutches, it would be far more efficient to request assistance from the military organization they have worked with in the past.

Besides, why would GUN refuse to help the princess they were making agreements with?

Sonic chuckled at the rhetorical question when he and Tails noticed commotion over the short pedestrian bridge leading to one of the local lords of Soleanna's business office. The lord Regis himself was present in a crowd of people in formal attire, and among the people were both guards of Soleanna in their seaweed green constable-looking attire and black body-suited soldiers, the latter being members of…

"GUN!" Tails exclaimed, looking at Sonic who nodded without losing focus on the situation, for he also noticed the source of the commotion. Across one of the small canals that separated the business office with the rest of the city, on top of the rooftop of a building was a trio of Eggman's robots surrounding a rabbit girl. The girl appeared to be holding something sky blue close to her protectively. Wasting no time, Sonic and Tails rushed closer to the scene, the jangled noise of the crowd turning into much more discernable sentences.

"Dr. Eggman?" Lord Regis' was talking to one citizen. "I thought he had left the city after taking the princess! What does he want now?"

Another citizen, a woman, asked a fellow bystander, "Isn't that Princess Blaze's favorite handmaiden?"

The gossip in the crowd continued in anticipation of what would happen to the girl cornered by the menacing robots up above. Sonic glanced at Tails, his eyes telling his friend to let him handle the robots. Tails smiled and went to talk to the GUN soldiers stationed with the people.

Sonic began to observe his surroundings for a way up to the rooftops. There were plenty of barrels and boxes around, but surely there must be a faster way to the top. Coincidentally enough, he found such a way.

A couple of scientists were situated a little away from the crowd, looking over what appeared to be a giant red and blue semicircle with a golden star designed in the middle. The scientists, one male and one female, were bickering with each other over it.

"I'm telling you, it _won't_ work!" the female declared.

"And I'm telling _you_ ," the male rebutted, "We've done the calculations over and over again, not to mention we've tested this spring with smaller objects. It's ready for a live subject to test it."

"Who are we going to test this spring with, huh? Not many people like being shot out of a cannon, let alone jumping on a highly pressurized spring to who knows where!"

Sonic answered the redhead's question with action, speeding towards the spring and landing on it dead center. As the Law of Equal and Opposite Reactions dictated, the spring's response to Sonic's displacing of it was to propel Sonic in the opposite direction at equal velocity. The two scientists watched in shock as Sonic soared through the air towards the rooftop where Eggman's robots were, finally realizing that more was going on around them than their little invention debate.

Sonic landed with grace on the rooftop, the crowd below reacting to the hedgehog's sudden appearance. Eggman's robots, too, saw Sonic standing before them now, but their reaction was completely hostile. "Priority one hedg-"

The robots' uniform response was disrupted by Sonic's flurry of attacks, each punch and kick blurred in blue as they sent each machine flying as broken parts; their remains crashed down on the pavement and waterways below, the soldiers and guards rushing to confirm their status as down for the count.

The small crowd cheered for Sonic as he turned his attention towards the now-liberated hostage. "You ok…Cream?" Sonic, actually taking a good look at the girl, realized he knew her. The young rabbit girl looked up towards her savior, a few tears could be seen in her eyes, but she looked unhurt. Her cream fur and orange dress were a bit covered in sand, however.

"Mr. Sonic!" Cream, recognizing the blue hedgehog, began to smile and bowed her head in respect. "Thank you for saving me."

Sonic scratched the back of his head, looking away embarrassed. _Still as formal as ever_ , he thought to himself. Some time ago, he had saved Cream the Rabbit from Dr. Eggman, who had also kidnapped her mother for who knows what. After he had rescued her back then, she had bowed her head politely like she was doing now. She later assisted him in saving her mother, Vanilla, from Eggman, even going on a few adventures with the hedgehog afterwards. Otherwise, she was nothing more than an ordinary girl with excellent manners.

"N-no problem," Sonic finally said smiling. "But what are you doing so far from home? And why were Eggman's robots holding you hostage?" Cream looked up at Sonic, sadness returning to her face. "Me and Cheese chose to stay here when Miss. Blaze asked if I would be her personal handmaiden." She lowered her eyes towards the blue object in her hands which, in actuality, was no object but a creature. The creature called Cheese turned its head to glance up at Sonic, emitting a small "Chao." Ironically, the word Cheese said was what his kind were called: Chaos. Though they came in different colors and figures, the basic appearance of the Chao race was the same: small and cute with a round head and wings.

"During the festival," Cream continued, "Dr. Eggman attacked and kidnapped Miss. Blaze. I did not want to abandon her, so I grabbed on to his vehicle when he was not looking." Sonic stared in space for a moment, thinking back to the attack. Now that he thought about it, he did notice a rabbit girl near Blaze when he tried to save her from Eggman.

 _That must've been Cream_ , Sonic realized, then returned his attention to Cream as she resumed speaking.

"We hid aboard Dr. Eggman's ship for a while, but we were caught." Cream closed her eyes, pain resonating within her. "Miss Blaze was trying to escape when we were captured. She stopped fighting in exchange for our safety. He agreed, and he had his robots escort me all the way back here, but they kept me held hostage for some reason. If only I hadn't—!" Cream, wrecked with guilt, began to sob. Cheese tried to comfort her, but it seemed he, too, was upset with what had occurred.

Sympathizing with the young girl, Sonic wrapped his arms around her and Cheese, his eyes closed and a gentle smile on his face. "It's ok," he said. "You were trying to help her, and I'm sure she appreciates it." He paused to make sure Cream had calmed herself, then asked her, "Do you know where Blaze and Eggman are at now?"

Cream wiped the few tears remaining on her face. "I overheard Dr. Eggman saying something about the Dusty Desert. I saw the sandy ruins when the robots were taking me and Cheese back to Soleanna." Cream's face began to express a sense of pleading. "Please, Mr. Sonic," she said. "Save Miss Blaze from Dr. Eggman! I know she may not want people to worry about her, but she does this out of fear that they may get hurt. She's a good person who cares about others…and she's my friend." Cream bowed her head once more, truly insistent that her request will be accepted by the hero before her.

 _She must really care about Blaze if she was willing to risk her life trying to save her_ , Sonic mused, then grinned. "Don't worry," he answered. "I never abandon a person who looks like they're in need of help. In fact, me and Tails were already chasing after her and Eggman a while ago. We came back to town when we lost track of them to see if there was a way to pick up their trail." Gazing tenderly at Cream, who had lifted her head to see him eye-to-eye, Sonic told her, "And you've just helped me find out where they are. Thank you, Cream."

Cream's eyes sparkled with joy, and her smile returned. "Thank you! Please be careful!" Cheese, who had also had his spirits lifted, emitted a series of _chaos_ in response. Sonic nodded, and offered his hand to her. "Now," he said, "How about we get you down from here?" Cream took his hand willingly, and Sonic assisted her off the rooftop.

* * *

"So, the GUN soldiers said the same thing, huh?" Sonic asked Tails.

"Yeah," Tails replied. "They sent a squad of robots to try and take down Eggman, but the squad was eradicated as soon as they got close."

Sonic wasn't surprised. GUN used a combination of both agents and machines to accomplish dangerous missions around the world, the latter of which were made using old blueprints and models confiscated from Dr. Eggman; despite this, Eggman always found a way to up his game every time. They were planning on sending another team to the desert to deal with Eggman, but Tails convinced the soldiers to tell GUN HQ to let him and Sonic save the princess. When the confirmation was received, Tails informed Sonic on what information he had procured.

Meanwhile, after Sonic had rescued Cream from the robots, he received a warm reception from the crowd below, praising his good deed. Lord Regis and the Soleanna guards questioned Cream and Cheese on Blaze's status, the two bravely recounting the events that had followed since last night. Sonic, on the other hand, told Tails about what Cream had done and then listened patiently to his friend as he discussed GUN's intel with him.

"Either way," Sonic finally said, "Both accounts point to the desert. We should get going."

"Right," Tails agreed. "But the Dusty Desert is a bit far to reach on foot. Let's take the Tornado instead." The Tornado, a blue biplane, was Tails' main mode of transportation. Originally, Sonic had owned a red biplane similar to it and handed it over to Tails, but the plane was shot down by Eggman's forces at one point. Tails then made a new, upgraded plane entitled "Tornado-2," as well as "The Cyclone," a variant of Tornado-2 with the capability to transform into a mech for battle. Eventually, Tails rebuilt the original Tornado out of sentiment and kept the other models as backups for more _interesting_ situations.

Sonic simply nodded at Tails' suggestion, and the two began to head back over to Alberto's item shop when they came across the same scientists whose spring Sonic had tested. An awkward silence befell the group. Sonic was the first to break it. "Your spring worked like a charm. Thanks!" He then gave the two a thumbs up.

The two scientists continued to stand quietly for a moment, but then the black-haired male responded, "Well, thank you for testing it." He then grinned mischievously. "My assistant here doubted my genius and our calculations. My gratitude for proving her wrong!"

The girl frowned in frustration. "Says the guy who blew up eggs in a microwave 'for science.' And for the last time, I am _not_ your assistant!"

The two began to bicker with each other until they turned away from each other with a puff of breath, arms crossed and eyes shut in irritation. Sonic and Tails couldn't help but to pity the two. "Well, if anything," Sonic finally said, "I think you both did a great job."

"Yes," Tails concurred, admiring the spring. "The design for this spring is amazing. It looks like you even took weight well into account with resistance."

The two scientists opened their eyes at the compliments, then looked at each other bashfully.

"Well…" the male began, turning his head to face his 'assistant.' "I can't take full credit. She was the one who figured out the weight complication." The female smiled at her fellow scientist's words. "And as annoying as this guy can be, he did recognize the significance of such a device." Turning to face the heroes, she said, "Thank you for your help."

Sonic and Tails returned the kindness and left the two to continue working on their research. Now, it was time to return to more important matters.

* * *

Blaze sat in silent contemplation, her arms held up on the brick walls via mechanical restraints.

These were no ordinary restraints, however. These ones were specially designed by Dr. Eggman to prevent her from using her fire-based powers.

Having anticipated that she may resist her capture, the mad scientist had them made as a precaution in case she tried to escape.

Which she did. And she failed.

But her failure was not due to incompetence. No, rather the failure was more sacrificial in nature. One of her closest handmaidens, Cream the Rabbit and her Chao friend, Cheese had snuck a ride on Eggman's aircraft during the attack on the Soleanna Festival of Light, fearing for her safety. When she and Cheese tried to free her, they were caught by Eggman's robots. Blaze had fought back valiantly to keep them safe, but the struggle ended the moment Eggman threatened to kill the two.

With no other choice, Blaze surrendered in exchange for their lives being spared.

Eggman had the two taken back to Soleanna (if his word was to be trusted), yet he swore that he would order his machines to kill them should Blaze attempt anything else. He then restrained the princess in what appeared to be a decaying old coliseum in the Dusty Desert, left to ponder if she had done the right thing.

"I hope Cream and Cheese are alright," Blaze muttered aloud, knowing well that no one would hear her. Eggman stated he had business in the old Soleanna Castle ruins in Kingdom Valley and would return some time later. Before leaving, Eggman made sure to warn her of Cream and Cheese's lives being dependent on Blaze's behavior.

How long has it been since then? There was no way to check the time in this ancient place. There were the few openings in the walls that let in a few streaks of sunlight, but they could only tell so much about the time of day from her position, and Blaze hadn't really thought to keep an eye on the light's position until now.

Blaze sighed in defeat. Never before had she felt so helpless. As a princess, her people expected her to be well-protected and cared for, having servants and guards doing everything for her. In other words, she was supposed to be dependent on others.

That conception alone is the sole reason why she despised being a princess.

Quite the contrary, she insisted on doing things herself so as to avoid such a dependency, but rules were rules and the amount of work that went with the title proved to be heavy at times, hence why she conceded to having handmaidens. Even then, her desire to be self-dependent, as well as her temper in the past, had gotten the best of her at times.

Once, when her country was facing threats from a jealous nation, her frustration at putting an end to the rival country's hostilities left her in a bad mood for days. When her former handmaiden tried to lighten her mood by doing the tasks that Blaze herself normally did, Blaze's temper reached its limit and, while she asserted that she would do the tasks herself, she accidentally unleashed her flames, resulting in her handmaiden's hand being burned.

It was a terrible moment in Blaze's life. While her handmaiden knew the burn wasn't intentional and didn't held Blaze responsible, Blaze's reputation as princess fell as a result. Her handmaiden later resigned out of fear of being burned again or worse, and Blaze didn't try to stop her. Ever since the incident, she had locked herself in her room, afraid she would hurt someone else due to her powers.

She had almost cried during that time, an act that would be disastrous as she knew full well.

Her spirits were lifted when Cream and Cheese came as visitors with a homemade tea recipe to cheer her up and calm her senses. Their tea had to be one of the best things she had ever tasted, which spoke volumes considering what food she could ask for as a princess. Cream, who felt sorry for the suffering Blaze was going through, volunteered to be her new handmaiden. When Blaze protested, Cream then asked if she could at least be Blaze's friend.

That moment struck a heartstring with the princess. Her people, for the most part, loved her, and her servants and guards performed any orders she gave, but this came with the title. At that point, Blaze didn't really have a person she could call a friend. Not since her father died.

As a result, Blaze accepted Cream's friendship and let her and Cheese visit the castle anytime. The incident with the handmaiden and the rival country soon passed into myth; Blaze got to meet Cream's mother, Vanilla and, at some point down the road, she finally agreed to let Cream be her personal handmaiden, an act she hasn't regretted since.

Until now.

Somewhere in Soleanna, Cream and Cheese were supposedly being held hostage by Eggman's robots, and Blaze was trapped in a desert. "What am I going to do?" Blaze asked herself, closing her eyes. She thought back to one of the last moments she had with her father before he died, what he had told her then:

" _You're a good girl, Blaze. Remember, a queen must give her people hope when times look bleak. Be brave. Don't cry, no matter what happens."_

Blaze opened her eyes in resolution. Her father was right. She may only be a princess now, but one day she would be coronated as queen of Soleanna. Even now, she was the acting monarch of Soleanna. If she gave up hope here, what will become of Cream and Cheese, let alone her people? She had to get out of this place.

 _Now, what to do about these restraints?_ Blaze wondered, examining the metal keeping her to the wall.

 _BOOM!_

A sudden explosion in the wall to her left caught Blaze's attention. She quickly lowered her head as much as she was able in the opposite direction to avoid any flying debris. Fortunately, nothing more than a few pebbles of granite reached her legs. When she looked back towards the source of the commotion, she found two figures emerging from the dust rising in the air, the light from the outside radiating inward. One was an orange and white fox boy with, bizarrely enough, two tails swishing freely behind him. He almost stumbled upon entry, but managed to regain his balance, chuckling bashfully. The other person beside him was…

"Mr. Sonic!"

Sonic raised his finger as soon as Blaze said this, moving it left and right with his eyes closed. "Just call me Sonic," he insisted. He then opened his eyes with seriousness written on his face. "Now then, are you OK? Blaze nodded, her response causing the hedgehog to relax in relief.

 _He actually came to help me_ , Blaze thought. _Wait a minute._

"I thought I told you _not_ to worry about me," Blaze remarked.

Sonic merely grinned and said, "Sorry, that's not how I roll. I don't abandon anyone in need of saving, especially when Eggman is involved. Besides, Cream asked me to save you, and I never turn down a friend's request."

"…!"

Blaze gasped when she heard Cream's name. "You mean, Cream and Cheese are alright?" Blaze asked.

Sonic, seeing her desperate need for an answer, nodded. "Eggman really needs to get better security guards."

Blaze sighed and smiled in relief. _They're ok_ , she thought joyfully. _Sonic saved them, and now he's trying to save me._

This left only one thing left to ask.

"The Chaos Emerald," she began. "Do you still have it?"

In response to her question, Sonic pulled out the blue emerald and held it in front of her. "Safe and sound." Her worries now all put to rest, Blaze finally relaxed. Cream and Cheese were out of harm's way, the emerald was secured, and best of all she was being freed. "I'm so glad that you came," Blaze warmly commented to Sonic. He responded with a smirk. "I always keep my word."

"Sonic!"

Tails cry made Sonic turn quickly to see what would make Tails react in such a manner. Sure enough, it was something unfriendly.

A mechanical gate was rising on the other side of the coliseum. Behind it, a great big black dog with red highlights was activating, its body rising and walking out of the tunnel from which is was locked behind.

The sound of an aircraft soon caught the group's attention. Gazing towards the top of the coliseum, the trio saw the aircraft and its sole passenger.

"It looks like a pesky rat has stuck its nose where it doesn't belong," Dr. Eggman sneered, his gloved hands behind his back. "Well, a hedgehog to be more precise…" he corrected himself.

Sonic and Tails began to take a defensive stance in front of Princess Blaze, all three of them eying the doctor with contempt.

Pointing at Princess Blaze, Eggman declared, "The princess is mine until I unlock the secret of the Flames of Disaster." With that, he slammed his pointing hand down on his vessel, triggering a command. The guard dog, actually a robot, growled in response.

"Tails," Sonic said, turning to his friend. "Leave this one to me. You concentrate on freeing Blaze!"

Tails nodded understanding. "Got it! Let's go!"

Sonic then stepped forward towards the large robot, the machine doing the same towards him. Eggman deviously smiled as he observed Sonic. "I'll take care of you now," he said. "An early dinner for my pet! Sonic, meet your match: Egg-Cerberus!"

Egg-Cerberus, having finished identifying its target, roared metallically. Sonic stood cockily in response to his opponent. "This is your pet, huh? Ok, Eggman. I'll play with him!"

Having said that, Sonic decided to test out the gem feature on his Custom Shoes. Tails had explained each of the gems and their properties while on the planer ride to the desert, and Sonic had gotten them memorized. Knowing the blue emerald cut gem decreased the amount of friction between his feet and the ground, he tapped it to enhance his speed two-fold. Sonic watched in awe as the gem transformed his shoes, changing them to resemble his old Hi-Speed Shoes, only know bearing a blue color scheme.

Now ready, Sonic rushed forward towards his foe. The effect of the gem's power could be seen and felt instantaneously. Normally, Sonic would build up his speed when he began running, but the blue gem acted like a dash panel, leaving him free to accelerate at a moment's notice.

Egg-Cerberus, seeing its prey on the move, charged towards the blue hedgehog with a snarl. When the two were a few yards apart, the guard dog opened its mouth and chomped down right down where Sonic was.

Except there was no taste—there wasn't even a hedgehog in its mouth!

Sonic saw the attack coming and, right before the machine had the chance to eat him whole, Sonic skidded to a halt and accelerated to the right at 90 degrees. The maneuver allowed him to escape not only death but also the robot's field of vision.

The dog looked around in search of its quarry with no luck, then began to sniff the area. As it tried to get a trail, a sudden impact was felt on its side; it didn't hurt in the slightest, but it was certainly felt.

Sonic landed on the ground, his sneak attack failing to damage the robot. However, the assault did tell him how strong his opponent was. The shielding on Egg-Cerberus was definitely strong, meaning a high-velocity strike on the body wasn't going to do anything. Sonic then realized something about the robot's head. At first glance, there appeared to be a glowing stick of energy sticking out of the dog's head. While it may look like an instrument to stab or, at the very least, hit an enemy with, a closer examination showed that it is actually an antenna used for communications.

 _Perhaps an attack there may be the key to victory_ , Sonic thought.

Egg-Cerberus, sensing Sonic's position, attempted to swat at him using its tail by swinging its body a full 360. Sonic managed to dash forward enough to clear most of the radius, but not enough to avoid the attack. The tail sent Sonic flying across the arena, his body colliding with the stony ground. A sharp burning sensation ripped across the hedgehog's body as it made contact with the floor, and Sonic clenched his teeth.

From above, Eggman laughed at Sonic's _unfortunate_ discomfort. "That's it, my pet!" Eggman shouted. "Make him wish he'd never been born!"

Sonic fought against the ache, having been through worse. Besides, he had to keep focus. Egg Cerberus was already on the move again, running around the edge of the arena past Tails and Blaze and towards him. Thinking fast, Sonic decided to employ the same tactic except in the same direction the robot was moving. Tapping the red gem on his shoe, which changed the color of his shoes from blue to red, Sonic began his run. Unlike the blue gem, which sped up his speed, the red gem's unique ability was a small time dilation effect, allowing the environment around him to slow down. Any of the Chaos Emeralds would have been able to done the same via Chaos Control, but using the emeralds powers required concentration. The red gem, on the other hand, only needed to be equipped to do the same, albeit with a lesser effect.

Sonic noticed the Egg-Cerberus moving 'slower,' allowing him to catch up to the guard dog's rear side in a matter of seconds. Clicking his shoes, the red gem returned to a state of rest, allowing Sonic's Custom Shoes (and the surrounding environment) to revert to normal. Now that he was out of the robot's sights yet again, Sonic took the opportunity to grind up the dog's giant tail, free-falling right on top of the antenna.

Egg-Cerberus raised the front of its body up in response to the sudden hand tension Sonic applied to its antenna until it was only on its hindlegs. When Sonic refused to let go, the machine dropped the front of its body and charged ahead, shaking its head all the way.

Meanwhile, Tails endeavored to remove the restraints on Blaze's hands using his tools. Though he was making progress, the design of the restraints proved to be taxing in terms of removal. The battle occurring behind him did nothing to make the situation any better. Tails had to occasionally glance over his shoulders to see where Sonic and Egg-Cerberus were just in case the fight got too close for comfort. As he made one such glance, Tails saw Sonic struggling to keep his hold on the guard dog's antenna. Holding on tightly, Sonic adjusted the placement of his hands along the antenna for better grip; as he did this, Egg-Cerberus reacted by changing which way it was running.

"…!"

Seeing this cause-and-effect caused an idea to form in Tail's head.

"Sonic!" Tails shouted. "Make it run into something!"

Sonic saw where Tails was coming from. By moving his hands, the robot seemed to change its direction of travel. As such, Sonic experimented with the antenna, correlating which grip leads to which direction; when he got a particular feel for it, Sonic set the robot's course on a path towards its destruction.

At the end of the path, one of the colossal eroding statues overlooking the coliseum.

Letting go when it was meters away, Sonic jumped off the robot's body and watched as the dog went headfirst into the statue. The age-old sculpture crumbled apart due to the force, large chunks of it falling on top of Egg-Cerberus' body. The robot itself hollered in agony as it turned around. Surprisingly, the antenna was still connected, though it appeared to be a little looser. The same, however, could not be said for the rest of the head, which had lost much of its protective armor.

"Hey, I can finally see your face!" Sonic taunted. The dog, hearing the insult directed at it, charged towards the blue hedgehog only to stop and jump over him, landing on the second level floor of the coliseum. Blaze felt the tremors in the wall as the dog touched down on the floor above, making her all the more eager to be free and join the fight. "Please hurry up!" Blaze anxiously said to Tails. Grabbing another one of his tools, Tails responded, "Working as fast as I can!"

Egg-Cerberus glared down at Sonic, who smugly smirked right back at it. Eggman, seeing Sonic's pride, yelled, "Kill him!" Egg-Cerberus then leapt from the second floor and crash landed in the middle of the arena, supposedly on top of Sonic. Sonic, on the other hand, managed to run underneath the dog while it was still in the air; right as Egg-Cerberus landed, Sonic employed the same tactic as before, grinding up its tail and grabbing onto the antenna.

Aggravated, the robot once again tried to shake Sonic off, only to no avail. Sonic moved his hands to alter Egg Cerberus' route into one of the other remaining statues. When the machine got close, however, it stopped and turned the other way.

"Hmph!" Sonic grunted. "Listen to me!"

Despite Sonic's best efforts, the robot dog refused to obey. As Sonic tried adjusting his grip, he finally realized his folly. When Egg-Cerberus ran into the first statue, the antenna did take damage, enough for any new commands (save for Eggman's original order to kill him) to not reach Egg-Cerberus.

In other words, Sonic's chances of making the guard dog run into anything else via the antenna were gone.

"Woah!" Sonic screamed as the Egg-Cerberus finally managed to shake him off, the antenna breaking off of its head. The blue blur twisted his body in the air, positioning himself for a proper landing with the ground. Upon touching down, Sonic glanced back at the robot dog, watching as the antenna that he was once holding on to hit the ground with a _thud_!

 _Now what?_ Sonic wondered. Just as he began to ponder his next move…

"Got it!"

Tails triumphantly voiced his success as the restraints once holding Blaze's arms up fell to the floor. Blaze groaned from the discomfort as blood started to return to her arms. Even then, she smiled and nodded in appreciation at Tails for freeing her.

Turning her attention to Egg-Cerberus, who's attention was still trained on Sonic, she rushed forward into the battlefield, dying for payback. Right as the guard dog was about to charge towards Sonic, Blaze soared upward into the air, propelling herself with orange flames until she was directly above Egg-Cerberus' exposed head. Letting herself fall, she covered her left fist with fire and brought it down on the robot dog. The resulting blast knocked the robot's face into the ground, pieces flying off in all directions.

Blaze landed atop the machine's head, only to perform a backflip and touch ground a few yards away. Sonic and Tails rushed to her side and together, they observed Egg-Cerberus attempting and failing to get up. Ultimately, the guard dog fell to the ground, its power going out.

"Ngh!" Eggman growled in frustration. "Sonic! I won't let you get away!" He then began to pound away at the controls in his aircraft, attempting to summon reinforcements.

Tails turned to Sonic and Blaze. "We should get out of here while we can!" The hero and princess nodded in agreement, and the trio raced for the wall opening that Sonic and Tails created upon entry.

* * *

The setting sun lit the sky a palette of orange and red, the stars slowly but surely appearing above. The view complemented the terrain that was the Dusty Desert, where mystic debris, sculptures and ruins were left buried in hills of sand and little vegetation. It was believed by the people of Soleanna that these ruins were where their ancestors first lived, the statues symbolizing mythical creatures and holy figures in relation to their belief in Solaris.

 _Better for Eggman to build a base in a desert than an ocean_ , Sonic thought to himself.

The two heroes and the Princess of Soleanna managed to escape from the coliseum ruins and were making their way to the Tornado. Since the Tornado only had two seats, Sonic would have to either run on the ground or brace himself on one of the wings. Of course, Sonic was fine with either option—the first satisfied his passion for running, the other his desire for thrills and danger.

Blaze, on the other hand, wasn't as excited about the prospect of flying.

Though she tries to hide it, Blaze suffers from acrophobia; the mere sight of the ground from a high platform was enough to send shivers down her spine. Over time, she managed to learn to move past this fear partly due to having lived and walked in a castle her whole life.

She would survive a plane ride. She may just have to close her eyes from time to time and imagine being somewhere else.

As the heroes made their way past another temple entrance, they noticed shadows in the setting sun. Though they had to squint their eyes, the three knew exactly what the shadows were.

Eggman's reinforcements.

"How long is this going to go on?" Sonic complained. While he was sure they could take on the machines, Sonic knew Eggman would keep sending more and more after them until they succeeded. If he and Tails were to get Blaze back to Soleanna, they had to find a better way than just fighting their whole way there.

Tails seemed to realize this, too, and began to think. After a few seconds, he had a proposal. "Let's split up!" Tails suggested. "I'll get their attention in the Tornado, and you take the princess."

Sonic and Blaze looked at each other, considering the plan. It wasn't a bad idea. Quite the contrary, in fact. The only problem would be that Sonic and Blaze would have to brave the desert themselves and, unless Tails could set up a rendezvous point to pick them up, make their way back to Soleanna. Such a trip would be long, but not impossible.

 _If I don't have to ride in a plane,_ Blaze told herself. _That's fine by me._

Sonic could tell from Blaze's face that she was content with the idea. "OK," he responded with a thumbs up. "You be careful, Tails."

Tails grinned with pride. "Leave it to me!" The fox then sped off to where the Tornado was. As he did, Sonic started to analyze the desert landscape for an ideal path to take with Blaze. The problem with the Dusty Desert was the quicksand. Unlabeled and blending with the dunes nicely, the quicksand would prove hazardous for Sonic. Unlike water, where at the right speed Sonic could stay on top of it, quicksand was more difficult to walk on. It had a certain friction to it that even a high-speed hedgehog could fall victim to.

Thus, he opted for a path with plenty of ground and ruins to traverse on.

 _Flop!_

A sudden noise brought Sonic out of his thoughts, and as he turned around he was met with the sight of Blaze on the ground.

"Blaze?!"

* * *

" _So, this is the…"_

" _I hope S… He's pretty insecure when…"_

" _The Iblis Tri…"_

" _Blu…"_

" _Can it be true?"_

* * *

Blaze shook her head as she slowly opened her eyes, groaning from the pain in her head.

Another vision, only this time it was different from the others. It looked like she was at Wave Ocean. And that voice—it was hers, but she wasn't saying anything, was she?

 _It was only a dream_ , she told herself. As her field of vision returned, she noticed it was now nighttime, the sky littered with stars and cosmological spectacles. The sound of feet running on grass was also present, yet Blaze herself was not moving.

Then again, why did she feel 'bouncy?'

As she turned her head, she saw Sonic staring straight ahead, a resolute look on his face. After contemplating for a moment, Blaze finally drew a conclusion.

The sound of running feet, her 'bouncy' feeling, and waking up after a dream.

She had fallen unconscious, and Sonic had been carrying her for who knows how long.

"…!"

Blaze blushed in embarrassment. This had never happened before. Well, to be fair, Sonic _had_ carried her before, but she was thinking about what happened to her. Normally, her visions would be daydreams; a single snap would be enough to bring her out of them. But falling out cold completely? Unbelievable.

Even worse, the blue hedgehog chose to carry her through the desert against Eggman's forces alone.

No, that wasn't right.

The fox boy—Tails, if she recalled correctly—stated he was going to distract the robots so as to allow Sonic and her to escape. But seeing as she had been asleep since Tails left, she didn't know what had transpired since then.

Sonic finally noticed that she was awake. With a gentle smile, he joked, "Morning, Sleeping Beauty!"

Blaze irked at the statement, her body sadly still exhausted. "Please, do not call me that."

Sonic chuckled nervously. "Sorry," he apologized.

Blaze sighed, accepting his apology. "It is alright. Where are we, anyway?"

Sonic slowed down to a stop, observing his surroundings. "I don't remember the name exactly, but we're in the plains between the Soleanna Forest and the desert we just came from." He then looked back at her with pride. "Speaking of which, you should've seen what happened while you were out! Tails flying around in the Tornado, blasting Eggman's robots out of the sky. The number of Badniks I sent crashing into the quicksand. It was a party!" As he recollected his accounts in the desert, Sonic laughed in amusement. Blaze herself couldn't help but share his sentiments, although she was much more reserved in terms of expression, simply smiling.

Wishing to change the topic, she asked, "Sonic, would you mind putting me down?"

"Eh?" Sonic raised his eyebrow for a moment as if not understanding, only to go wide-eye in embarrassment. "Oh, sorry!" He then quickly set Blaze on her feet, allowing his arms to rest from carrying her a long distance.

Blaze then gazed at Sonic in sincerity. She thought back to everything this stranger had done for her since the Soleanna Festival of Light. How he rescued Cream and Cheese. How he kept the Chaos Emerald safe. How he tracked down Eggman just to save her.

It felt as if Blaze was forever indebted to Sonic, yet she knew he wouldn't see it that way nor would he ask for any reward. Even then, she wanted him to know.

"I have no words to express how grateful I am for your help…" Blaze began, only to stop abruptly when she noticed something. On Sonic's left arm, a blotch of red was present on his peach arms.

Blood.

"You're hurt!" Blaze said, prompting Sonic to examine his injury. He remembered how he got it. During his run in the desert, one of Eggman's Egg Gunners ambushed him from behind a pillar; though he managed to dodge most of the bullets while keeping Blaze safe, one lucky shot got him in the arm. It stung, and the pain was made worse by the fact he was carrying Blaze the whole time with nothing the injury with.

The wound didn't hurt as much as it did then, but Sonic still felt it. Even so, he'd experienced graver injuries in the past. "Don't worry," Sonic tried to reassure the princess. "It's nothing." He then tried shaking his arm to prove to her he was alright.

A mistake on his part.

"Ow!" Sonic squeezed his teeth together, narrowly looking at his wound. Realizing he was caught trying to prove he was alright when he wasn't, he looked back at Blaze. He laughed nervously.

Blaze became stern as she witnessed Sonic's pitiful performance. She ultimately sighed, saying "You're so naïve." She then approached Sonic and pulled out a roll of bandage she carried with her out of fear she may need to use it (though not for her). She then took Sonic's wounded arm and began to cover the wound. Blaze knew Sonic would need to treat the wound as soon as they arrived back in Soleanna, but until then this was the best she could do.

After she had finished wrapping the injury, Blaze put the bandages away yet continued to hold Sonic's arm in her hands, staring at the now covered spot. She groaned in grief.

 _Why did I have to pass out like that?_ Blaze cursed herself. _If I was awake, I may have been able to prevent this._

"I'm sorry," she said. "I should've been there to help you. Instead, I've been nothing more than a liability."

Sonic looked at Blaze, feeling sorry she felt this way. He knew it wasn't her fault, but he could see why she would think it would be. After a small pause, he said, "Smile."

Blaze, letting go of his arm, turned to see Sonic waving his finger at her nonchalantly. As he did this, something one might call 'magical' happened.

A small blue and violet butterfly landed on the hedgehog's black nose. Taken aback, Sonic managed to resist scaring the tiny insect off, instead observing it with interest. Blaze, entertained by the sight, let the butterfly rest on Sonic's nose for a moment. Afterwards, she gently slid her finger along Sonic's nose towards the butterfly, lightly flicking up so as to prompt the insect to start fly again. As the two watched the butterfly disappear into the night, Blaze giggled thinking of Sonic's reaction.

"Your smile…" Sonic said, drawing Blaze out of her thoughts, a look of curiosity taking over. "That's all I need." As he told her this, he grinned and began walking forward. Blaze stood for a moment, considering the hedgehog's want.

 _My smile?_ Blaze pondered why he would want that of all things.

"Besides…"

"Hm?" Blaze glanced back at Sonic, who had turned around to look her in the eyes, his unwounded arm to his hip. "Quit thinking of yourself as a liability," he continued. "You've been more than helpful. For example, when Eggman captured you yesterday night you entrusted your Chaos Emerald to me to prevent Eggman from having it. Or when Cream and Cheese were taken hostage by Eggman, you chose to surrender to protect them. And back at the coliseum…" Sonic stopped talking, letting the image of that moment sink in, then finished his thought. "Seeing you deliver the finishing blow to that robot dog…that was incredible!"

Blaze stood silently, her mouth opened in awe at what she was hearing. The things Sonic was talking about, all the praise he was giving her…

It wasn't the usual set of compliments her people gave her. Most of those flattering remarks amounted to nothing more that simple "You're beautiful!" or "You are so wise!"

What Sonic was saying, though, made her feel joyous. Still…

"You would be the first to say such things," Blaze responded, a hint of sorrow in her voice. She brought her hand up and produced a small piece of fire on it. "Most people—even a few of the citizens of Soleanna—tend to think of me as dangerous."

 _And why wouldn't they?_ Blaze rhetorically asked herself.

"Because of your powers?" Sonic questioned her, watching the flame slowly dance in place on the princess' hand. Blaze nodded, and let the flame dissolve into nothingness. She then proceeded to walk past Sonic, who then followed closely behind.

Recounting Eggman's speech at the coliseum in his mind, Sonic tried to see if Blaze knew what he was planning to do. "Eggman mentioned the Flames of Disaster. Is that why he's after you?" Blaze, without looking back, responded, "Yes."

She didn't want to talk about the flames nor the reason as to why she has them in the first place. However, since Sonic has done so much for her already and clearly wants to stop Dr. Eggman, Blaze decided to tell him.

"The name of the sun god our country honors," she explained, "Is Solaris. Long ago in the past, Solaris left to us a flame that would last forever: The Flame of Hope. However, it was prophesized in ancient scrolls that should that flame be tampered with or used for selfish purposes, Solaris' rage would destroy the world. His wrath comes in a more destructive form of that single fire: The Flames of Disaster."

Taking a pause, Blaze continued. "Ten years ago, we almost faced the full force of his fury. After a devastating war took the lives of many of our people, including my mother's, my father—the then Duke of Soleanna—tried to use the Flame of Hope to bring her and the others back through a program known as the Solaris Project; to prove his good-hearted intentions, he even prayed to Solaris that he would bring back the lives of the enemies who had fallen in battle and try and bring about a peaceful utopia."

Blaze stopped walking, prompting Sonic to stop as well. Try as she might, Blaze couldn't recall what had happened. The public was told that the Solaris Project was an energy research program, spearheaded by her father and Lord Regis. However, the project failed supposedly due to a prototype engine failure. Blaze knew this wasn't the case, but she just couldn't remember all the details. She _did_ remember seeing her father in front of a tank with a bright light, and how he covered her protectively when the tank exploded but that was it. Nothing else.

Resigning to her lack of memories, she said, "In the end, I guess Solaris saw my father's motivations as selfish. I was a child then, so I don't remember what exactly happened. All I know is that after my father's project failed, and I somehow ended up with the Flames of Disaster inside of me." Blaze then lowered her head. "I lost my father then…"

Hearing this story, Sonic wanted to ease Blaze's distress all the more. To be so young, to lose a father, to have such power and, on top of it all, to bear the responsibilities of a princess…it must've been harsh on her. In the end, though, all Sonic could do was listen caringly.

Blaze, pushing her despair away, closed her hands into fists. "And now," she said, "That man is trying to obtain the Flames of Disaster. If he is evil enough to threaten my people and my city, then who knows what he will do with such power? I cannot let that happen."

Finishing her monologue, Blaze looked at Sonic with resolve. Sonic, seeing this, nodded with a smirk. "It won't," he declared. "Not if I can help it!" Blaze found comfort with this assertion. It felt nice to share her troubles with someone, and such a feeling was made greater when that same someone expresses the same desire. Even so, perhaps it was time to change the subject.

"I know I was unconscious the last time," Blaze said, "But you don't have to keep carrying me."

Sonic's response was almost instantaneous. "Yeah, well, things were much faster that way." Blaze cocked her head to one side. "And what's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"I'm just faster is all."

"Is that so?"

"What?" Sonic chuckled. "You doubt me?" Blaze crossed her arms and looked ahead. "My powers amplify my speed. I may not look it, but I can run fast myself."

Upon hearing this, Sonic said, "Really? Alright then. Let's see how well you can compete!"

"Oh?" Blaze returned her focus to Sonic, interested in what he was proposing. Sonic smiled. "We'll move side-by-side. I'll increase my running speed, and you'll have to match it. If you can't match it, then you're just too slow!" He paused as if contemplating something, then added, "If you manage to surpass my top speed, I'll forfeit my title of 'Fastest Thing Alive' to you."

Blaze, inclined to participate, agreed to the wager. "Very well."

"OK," Sonic said, running at a very slow pace. "I'll start off easy for you." Blaze answered this playful taunt by dashing forward at a much faster pace, spurring Sonic to meet her challenge. Each time Sonic went past Blaze, Blaze would up her speed to take the lead and vice-versa. At one point, Sonic decided to have a little fun and not only increase his speed but also run backwards while smiling charmingly, defying Blaze to do better. Blaze mischievously answered by meeting his speed and tackling him to the ground, the two of them rolling over each other and the ground until they came to a stop.

Laying right beside each other, the two glanced at each other and began laughing at their childish antics. As their laughter ended, Blaze conceded, "Alright. Admittingly, I've never run so fast before." Sonic looked at her grinning. "Feel's great, doesn't it?"

Blaze nodded in agreement. "I kind of wished that I had a reason to run so fast in the past."

"Well, back then or today, nothing starts until you take action. If you have time to worry, then run!"

"Wise words," Blaze commented. "I shall remember them."

The two then laid on the soft grass in silence for a while, the only sounds present being the crickets and the wind rustling the pastures. The stars in the sky glittered beautifully above the plains.

"It's pretty late," Blaze finally said, breaking the silence. Turning to Sonic, she recommended that she stay up and look out for any signs of trouble.

"You sure?" Sonic asked.

"Yes. Besides, I think it's fair to say I got my fair share of sleep already."

"Heh," Sonic chuckled. "Alright. We'll continue heading back in the morning." That being said, Sonic closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Blaze observed him for a short time, then returned her attention to the sky above. The stars were symbolically linked with gods and religion. Some people even claimed that the stars were a means to tell the future.

With this knowledge in hand, Blaze silently offered a prayer of thanks to Solaris for giving her the opportunity to meet the blue hedgehog beside her and hoped tomorrow would be filled with more moments like this.


	4. Chapter 3 (Sonic)

**Chapter 3 (Sonic): Tension**

Sonic yawned while stretching his arms as he and Blaze walked side-by-side. Blaze, unable to keep her neutral expression, silently giggled at the sight of the drowsy hedgehog. Upon noticing this, Sonic simply shrugged and kept pace alongside her, a hint of an embarrassed smile on his face.

The sun was rising over the still sleeping Castle Town. After Sonic woke up in the plains, the duo decided to run the rest of the way to Soleanna while it was still nighttime. Despite Sonic's chivalrous (if not playful) gesture, Blaze refused to let him carry her the rest of the way; she had claimed it was for the wound in his arm to heal properly, but mostly it was to save her any more embarrassment.

She can't let this guy keep carrying her everywhere, especially after yesterday's incident. If this kept up, she might as well ride in a palanquin for the rest of her life.

In any case, it felt good running all the way to Soleanna. Blaze couldn't remember a time being so far from her kingdom, so experiencing the change in scenery with all her senses helped etched them in her memory. She didn't want to forget these places she had been to, and she won't.

In addition, her race back to Soleanna allowed her to relax her mind. After Sonic had fallen asleep, she'd spent her time trying to make sense of the visions she had been seeing. Before Eggman's attack, her visions had mostly been of Soleanna in flames, occasionally seeing the giant monstrosity responsible for the destruction and, more rarely, a greyish-white hedgehog staring at her.

While she had come to the conclusion that he and Sonic were not one and the same, it still left the identity of the mysterious hedgehog unknown to her. As for the monster, perhaps she was seeing the Flames of Disaster incarnate, a personification drawn out by the prophecies from long ago. For all Blaze knew, those sequences were merely nightmares brought out by the stress of holding such power within her, with one slip-up leading to the end of the world.

Still, if the apparitions were just nightmares, what would the hedgehog represent?

And then there was that one with the ocean. She could not say she had ever been to Wave Ocean before until just recently, and she had no reason to enjoy it given how she was locked inside the Egg Carrier.

In the end, Blaze failed to find any solace. There was only so much she could do to prevent having the daydreams, yet ultimately she could do nothing but tolerate them until they did stop.

At least the run cleared her head.

"So," Sonic said, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Hm?" Blaze replied neutrally.

"What are you going to do when Eggman shows up again? He won't just give up so easily."

"Agreed." Blaze knew Dr. Eggman would most likely attempt another kidnapping, and she had put a lot of consideration into what to do to protect herself _and_ her people once she had made it back into town. Eventually, she had decided to enlist GUN for support and increase the number of guards patrolling Soleanna; furthermore, security at her castle on the island off of the main land would be raised.

Telling Sonic all of this, she added, "Even then, I won't just sit back and let them handle Eggman alone. He may be after me, but I will protect my people any way I am able."

Sonic nodded in approval. "I'll help out, too. While you focus on keeping Soleanna safe, I'll take the fight to Eggman!" Displaying his signature grin, Blaze smiled in response.

The two proceeded to walk through the main dining area at the west end of the Castle Town. The tables and seats were all empty given the time, and most of the citizens weren't even awake yet. The only people not asleep were the guards stationed at the entrances of the town, the ones at the gate the two had entered through being particularly ecstatic at seeing their princess back safe and unharmed; while they had asked if she wanted an escort back to the castle, Blaze politely declined stating she would be fine with just Sonic. She did, however, ask that when the Captain of the Soleanna Guards was awake, they tell him she requested an audience with him later. Obeying their ruler, they agreed and returned to their duties at the gate.

Blaze normally wouldn't have minded an escort—she did walk around with handmaidens and other important figures of Soleanna after all. On the other hand, she had the strangest notion that once she was back at the castle and her plan to protect her kingdom from Dr. Eggman put into action, she wouldn't see much of Sonic during that time. Thus, she opted to enjoy this moment with the blue hedgehog.

In spite of this inevitability, the sun rising in the distance was enough to convince Blaze that today would be (in all senses of the word) bright.

"Ngh!"

"Huh?"

Realizing Sonic had stopped walking beside her, she turned to see if he was alright, only to find him with a struggling look on his face. He also had a strange cyan aura around him. Suddenly, Sonic flung back into the dining area, the tables and chairs flying in the air only to fall back to Earth with a _clang_.

"Sonic!" Blaze cried out, seeing the hedgehog trying to stand up. As the hero got back on his feet, he and Blaze heard an unfamiliar voice.

"I've been looking for you...Iblis Trigger."

The two companions, now a distance apart, looked to the skies to see where the voice originated from. There, hovering down to the ground was a hedgehog of greyish-white, his gloved hands and navy-and-aqua boots complemented with gold cuffs lined with the same cyan color Sonic had found himself restricted by mere seconds ago.

Gazing upon the stranger, Blaze found herself petrified.

 _It's him_ , she thought. _The one from my visions!_ She then realized something interesting in what he had just said, what he called Sonic.

"Iblis…Trigger…" she mumbled.

Pointing at Sonic with hatred radiating in his golden irises, the white hedgehog spoke again. "Your actions will condemn us all!"

Hearing this gave Blaze a sudden, sharp pain in her head, images beginning to flash through her eyes.

* * *

" _How can we completely destroy Iblis?"_

" _By knowing the truth, of course."_

" _You need to find the being originally responsible for this catastrophe."_

* * *

Blaze started to breathe harder. Her legs starting to become numb, she began to rely on a nearby building's wall for support. The visions then changed from the destroyed Soleanna to somewhere more unfamiliar.

* * *

" _You must eliminate the individual who has awakened Iblis…the Iblis Trigger."_

" _If I eliminate that guy, will our world be saved?"_

" _The Day of Disaster…this was when Ib-…his flames relea-…And you have this person to blame."_

" _So, that blue hedgehog's the Iblis Trigger?"_

* * *

Blaze fell to her knees, her hands on her head. Sweat rolled down her face as she prayed for the discomfort to stop.

Meanwhile, Sonic had gotten back up and was on the defensive. "Who are you?" he asked the strange hedgehog. The white warrior stared him back straight in the eyes. "My name is Silver. For the future of the world, I will destroy you!" Having said this, the one known as Silver stretched right hand over to his left side; immediately after doing this, the nearby chairs and tables that had been fortunate enough to not be hit by Sonic became surrounded in the same cyan field and rose from the ground.

"Huegh!" Silver yelled, and the objects flew straight towards Sonic. Reacting fast, Sonic rolled out of the way. The objects hit the buildings behind Sonic, shattering into individual pieces upon impact. Trying to close the gap between them, Sonic rushed forward to strike, only to Silver to stop him inches away with his psychokinesis. Snorting, Silver sent Sonic flying towards one of the buildings, but Sonic managed to flip himself into a position to land on the wall and dropped back to the ground unscathed.

 _Darn!_ he thought. _I can't get close to him without being caught in that power of his. Wait, what's he doing?_

As Sonic observed his foe closely, he realized Silver was glancing at Blaze in concern. Sonic saw she was on her knees, appearing as if she was in pain.

"Blaze…" Sonic said softly, inaudible to Silver. Growing concerned for her wellbeing, Sonic knew he had to finish this fight quickly so that he could help her with whatever was troubling her.

Tapping the green gem on his shoes—the shoes transforming into a green version of his Hi-Speed Sneakers—Sonic kept his eyes on Silver, waiting for the hedgehog to return his attention towards him. When he did, Sonic could see anger on his face. "I won't let you hurt her!" he declared, lifting up every nearby table and chair in a vortex.

 _Hurt her?_ Sonic wondered what Silver meant by that. Did Silver care about Blaze's health? Regardless of whether he did or not, Sonic prepped himself for his opponent's attack. Silver gathered all the objects floating around him and formed a large spear-like object above his head.

 _Wait for it,_ Sonic told himself.

Silver, locking his eyes on his target, launched the spear at Sonic without hesitation.

 _Now!_ Sonic dropped down and held himself up on one hand, swinging his body and legs around and alternating between which hand held him up so as to create a spinning effect. While to most people it would be a form of breakdancing, for Sonic it was to utilize the green gem's unique ability. Nicknamed the Tornado gem, it gave the user the capability of forming a quick, yet effective whirlwind.

Which helped Sonic tear apart the spear of objects and send them flying back towards Silver at high speed.

Unexpecting this, Silver tried to stop Sonic's counterattack, but he was only able to concentrate fast enough to stop a few of the objects. The rest smacked right into his body, knocking him to the ground.

"That must've hurt!" Sonic taunted Silver, who somehow managed to endure that barrage of dining set-ups. Having heard Sonic, Silver snarled and began to surround himself in that psychokinetic energy.

 _Guess we're just getting started,_ Sonic thought, and got back on the defensive.

* * *

Blaze was back in the ruined city of Soleanna, the buildings deteriorating and the air consumed with a blistering heat. The skies above were an ugly mixture of orange and red, and everywhere she looked there was no signs of life. Afraid, she began running across the empty streets of the city.

"Sonic!" she cried out, looking left and right constantly. "Cream! Cheese! Anyone!"

No matter how much she yelled, no response came back to answer her.

 _This isn't real,_ she told herself, trying to calm down. _It's just a vision, a nightmare._

Blaze kept running, wishing the vision to be over with, yet it continued to linger on. Eventually, she found herself at a four-way street and came to a halt, unsure of which path to take. None of them were really tempting. The whole city was engulfed in fire and destruction after all.

" _Roar!_ "

From behind her, Blaze heard that same unholy beast from previous visions and turned to see in the distance a large twister of fire swirling up towards the sky. As she stood in shock, one word sprang to mind: "Iblis."

She had remembered from the previous visions the name that strange black-and-blue hedgehog had said, as well as the phrase "Iblis Trigger." Before her visions fully consumed her grip on the present reality, Blaze also heard the white hedgehog (who had introduced himself as Silver) calling Sonic "Iblis Trigger," and how Silver would destroy Sonic for the future.

Suddenly, Blaze started to make sense of it all. The visions. The Flames of Disaster. Soleanna in ruins.

The _future_ of the world.

"Is this…really the future?" Saying the words gave Blaze no comfort in her heart. If what she was seeing really was that, then that means the power inside of her would be released. The world will end in an inferno of pain and suffering.

And Sonic is the one responsible for it all?

 _No_ , Blaze reassured herself. _It can't be true._

Sonic has been protecting her since the Soleanna Festival of Light from Dr. Eggman. His kind, yet somewhat naïve spirit couldn't be the one to unleash such an evil into the world. If anything, Eggman would be the one to blame.

Once the visions were done, she would try to talk to Silver. She would tell him that there must be a mistake about Sonic.

She won't allow Sonic to die because of her.

"Ahh!"

Blaze lost her train of thought at a sound unlike the beast and tornado from behind her. Somewhere in the ruined city, a cry of fear echoed off the buildings' walls. The voice itself sounded young and feminine. Whim getting the best of her, Blaze found herself racing towards the source of the cry, desperate to help whoever was in danger.

Twisting and turning the unstable streets of the ruined future at top speed, Blaze eventually came to a charcoaled overpass that had fallen apart at one point, leaving one piece of it still elevated by damaged columns underneath. On top of the section resting above the street, a little brown bunny girl had her arms around a younger bunny boy, the two of them curled up at the divisor of the overpass. Creeping up to them were fiery lizard-like creatures, with jaws and limbs akin to those of canines. The creatures' molten bodies were covered in slabs of stone armor.

Observing the four _demons_ as she made her way closer, Blaze knew she could take them on by herself. By the time she was within striking distance, Blaze leapt forward with a fist of flames, making contact with the ferocious beast.

But there was no recoil. There wasn't even an impact.

Realizing this, Blaze turned around and attempted to kick the creature right in the head. Again, nothing. Seeing her attacks pass through like a breeze, Blaze cursed her stupidity.

This was a vision. Nothing she did would have any consequence here.

In other words, she was powerless to help.

She could only watch in horror as the creatures prepared to make a meal out of the frightened children. The girl covered the boy's eyes and looked away from the demon's face as it snarled in hunger.

"Hwuah!"

 _Crack!_

A sudden kick in the monster's head knocked it back into a pole that was up until impact still managing to stand, only to now fall to the ground; the demon that had been struck disappeared into embers. The remaining four creatures glared in anger at the newcomer responsible for the fall of their comrade.

A lavender cat girl in stripped heels, wearing a purple coat and gold collar, white tights and gloves, and a red gem on her forehead, all with her hair held back in a ponytail.

"What the…" Blaze, like the bunny people she was trying to protect, watched in awe as the cat girl summoned flames in her hands and waited patiently for the lizard monsters to make their move. The closest to the stranger then leapt at her, its clawed hands extending outward to inflict harm; the cat girl, using the fire in her hands, launched her flames forward to meet the demon. The flames canceled and exceeded the force the creature was traveling at, knocking it backward into one of its friends.

Wasting no time to watch as the monster crashed into and disappeared with its companion, the cat girl rushed forward and delivered two jabs at the next creatures' shark-like face. The stranger then finished it off with a fiery roundhouse kick, only to jump up off the ground with her flames as the kick cut deep into the neck of the creature, the obvious pain causing it to holler as it vanished into the air. As soon as the girl was up high, she performed a series of flips in the air and ended with a straight fiery kick down to the remaining monster's head. The velocity was enough to make the head smack into the concrete, and the girl jumped off due to energy and performed a backflip to put some distance between her and the now-decaying creature, landing gracefully on her feet.

Blaze couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. What she was still seeing now, in fact. After watching the flames and the moves the stranger had performed, there was no mistaking it.

The stranger—the cat girl—was her.

 _I'm still alive?!_ Blaze couldn't help but wonder about her friends. If she was alive _and_ she still had her powers, maybe what she was seeing wasn't because of the Flames of Disaster.

"…!"

A thought just occurred to her. What if this future really was Dr. Eggman's fault?

She had convinced herself it couldn't be Sonic, and Eggman wanted the power within her. Could it be that he successfully managed to take a portion of her powers or made some artificial copy? Either way, if this is what Eggman wanted, he got it.

Still, this raised even more questions.

The black hedgehog, for example. He told Silver Sonic was the one to blame. No, wait. In her vision, she saw the strange hedgehog give Silver what appeared to be a purple Chaos Emerald, but he never said it was Sonic. Maybe Silver saw something different than what was intended? Or if the other hedgehog believed it was Sonic, perhaps he made a mistake?

Blaze couldn't help but put her hand to her head. Everything was still vague, at best. However, she did believe one thing: this was, without a doubt, the future of the world. The exact cause, though, remains to be seen.

Blaze watched as her future doppelganger gracefully walked over to the crying children, their faces displaying a continued expression of fear, yet they were slowly relaxing. The future Blaze knelt down to them, asking neutrally, "Are you alright?"

Before they could answer, a group of shrieks sounded from above. Blaze looked up to see smaller, bat-like versions of the creatures her future self had defeated. Flying over them, the bat demons dropped what appeared to be tiny balls of fire. As they hit the ground one by one, the balls exploded into pieces. Before the ones above Blaze and the others reached the ground, however, they stopped midair surrounded by an aura of cyan.

"Ha!"

The balls in the air flew towards the creatures they had originated from, disintegrating them into embers and smoke.

Blaze and the others set their eyes towards where the mysterious voice came from, but Blaze already knew. She had seen that cyan aura before and, sure enough, the familiar white hedgehog responsible for it stood on top of the still-standing section of the overpass, fire in the background.

Silver.

And her vision blurred to black.

* * *

Blaze gasped for air as the nightmarish future faded from her eyes. Readjusting her eyes and clutching her head, she looked around at her surroundings.

Chairs and tables, both whole and in pieces, where scattered around the area. The buildings stood tall and distinguished in the morning light, the orange rays now transforming into a soft yellow. The sky was bluer, and there were no demonic creatures of fire in sight.

She was back, which meant…

 _Sonic!_ She turned her head to see the blue hedgehog casually walking over to Silver, who was laying on the ground panting. _It appears Silver lost,_ Blaze noted. She felt sorry for him, she really did. After seeing the future world in her visions and the horrors that await there, he must've been desperate to change it all, a feeling she could relate to.

Even so, killing her protector was unacceptable.

Sonic cocked his head, his hands to his hips. "Hey," he said. "We cooled off yet?"

For a response, Sonic found himself being knocked into the air by Silver's psychokinesis, and his body made impact with one of the columns of a building.

 _Slam!_

"Ugh!"

Dropping down to the ground on his knees, Sonic panted in pain. The collision left him unable to concentrate well, and he was already exhausted from the fight. Silver, also left fatigue from the fight, struggled to make his way to Sonic. He, too, was breathing heavily.

Bending over to examine Sonic closely, Silver ridiculed him. "Hmph! Is this a joke? How could someone like _you_ cause the destruction of our world?"

"…What do you…mean…?"

Silver shook his head, sighing. "It doesn't matter. For the sake of the future, the Iblis Trigger _must_ be destroyed."

 _No,_ Blaze thought. Sonic isn't responsible.

"Wai…ah!"

Feeling her body being clutched tight, Blaze found herself surrounded by white metallic arms. The same arms of the vessel that belonged to…

"Ho ho ho ho ho!" Eggman laughed maniacally, reversing his aircraft away from Sonic and his 'friend.'

Sonic fought against the aches to get up. "Blaze! Eggman!" He began to run after them, only to end up being struck from behind, landing back on the pavement.

"Don't you _dare_ turn your back on me!" Silver shouted angrily.

 _Not good!_ Sonic thought. Again, he tried to get up, but it was getting progressively more difficult.

Silver stopped a few feet from Sonic. "It's time I finally put an end to this!"

Expecting the worse, Sonic writhed in anticipation for Silver's attack.

"STOP!"

A high, feminine cry halted Silver's attack, the sound of red boots skidding to a stop between him and Sonic. Though he glanced back behind him, Sonic didn't need to in order to know who had just saved his life.

With arms stretched out in a protective stance, a pink-furred hedgehog stood firm against Silver.

"Amy?" Silver said, taken aback by her sudden action. Grunting, Silver warned her, "Get out of my way, Amy! This is _my_ mission!"

"Absolutely not!" Amy rebutted.

Silver, despite being determined to kill Sonic, found himself hesitating to strike, clenching his teeth in frustration. Sonic, on the other hand, finally managed to get back on his feet. It hurt, but he could endure it. While he was a little bit curious as to how Silver knew Amy, Sonic decided she could fill him in later. Right now, saving Blaze came first.

"Thanks Amy," Sonic said, giving a sincere smile. "I appreciate it." Having said that, he turned back to the direction Eggman was taking Blaze and ran off. From behind, he could faintly hear Amy reply, "Leave it to me!" Knowing Amy (and her hammer) well enough, Sonic trusted her assertion.

The blue hedgehog moved quickly across the Castle Town's land in an effort to follow the egghead, but without much of a trail to go off of, the only thing he was able to do was get as far away from Silver as possible. Realizing this, Sonic began to slow to a halt in front of the business office, sighing as soon as he stopped.

 _Great,_ he thought. _What do I do now?_

That's when he noticed a group of Soleanna guards arguing with each other, along with that man in the top hat and glasses from earlier. What was his name? Lord Regis? He appeared to be shaking nervously.

"Eggman's mechs have appeared in the New City?" Regis said, hoping his ears were deceiving him.

"Yes, sir," one of the guards responded. "We've locked down the gate to help prevent them from entering the Castle Town. As for the citizens on the other side, some of our men and agents from GUN are trying to keep them indoors or are escorting them to the town's exits for evacuation."

Lord Regis put a hand to his head. Clearly, he was troubled. "This is terrible! First the princess gets captured, then her handmaiden, and now this?" He paused in thought, then said, "I need to let the citizens here know right away. No one is to go in through that gate without authorization, Captain. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir!"

Having said that, the guards proceeded to rush back to their posts. Lord Regis, meanwhile, headed back inside the business office, completely oblivious to Sonic's presence. Not that Sonic minded—the conversation between him and the guards was all he needed.

"The New City, huh?" Sonic said to no one in particular.

 _Guess that's where I need to go next._

"Agk!" Sonic felt a sharp pain in his arm, and covered the area with the hand on his other arm. His whole body ached still, but those aches were fading away. The wound from the desert, however, had reopened and the bandages that protected it destroyed during his fight with Silver.

 _That's not good,_ Sonic thought. _I should take care of this first._

With that, Sonic headed towards the east end of the Castle Town, back to the item shop where Tails should be by now.


	5. Chapter 4 (Sonic)

**Chapter 4 (Sonic) : An Offer to Exchange**

"I'm no doctor," Alberto declared, "But that should just about do it."

The old shoemaker finished cleaning the bullet wound on Sonic's arm by wiping up the excess blood that had dried up. It felt good to Sonic to have his arm feeling better, although the stinging sensation that came with the medical liquids was not fun at all. Nevertheless, Sonic thanked Alberto and went upstairs to the room Tails was occupying.

Similar to the room downstairs, it was cluttered yet was a little more spacious in comparison, probably because the upstairs acted as an extra storage in case the store needed to stash away certain items. For example, there was a well-carved wooden desk up here, its legs layered with an intricate design that only a genius could figure out.

One possible genius just so happened to be using the desk as a working space.

Tails was tuning one of his newest inventions: the C.E.T. (Chaos Emerald Tracker). Given the amount of times they've needed to find the Chaos Emeralds in the past, it made sense to have a way of tracking them. Plus, with Eggman's interest in acquiring the Chaos Emeralds now, having a tracking device may prove useful in finding him.

Granted, the two heroes didn't know if Eggman had any of the other Emeralds besides the one that Metal Sonic has, and even then, Metal could be constantly doing assignments for Eggman. In short, having the C.E.T. would be helpful, but only if Eggman had an Emerald constantly with him. Still, better to have potential options.

Tails, himself, was beat. After leaving Sonic and Blaze to engage in a dogfight with Eggman's armada of Badniks, he had arrived back in Soleanna in a heavily damaged Tornado—it was a miracle he was even able to land the plane. Resting for the night, he awaited Sonic's return, hoping he and Princess Blaze were alright; unfortunately, according to Sonic, due to a newcomer named Silver, Eggman managed to recapture Blaze and Sonic got injured. With no leads to go off of, save for the Badniks in the New City area, Tails spent an hour today resupplying himself with Dummy Rings and trying to figure out ways to track Eggman.

All at once. No breaks.

Sonic walked around the room, eyeing anything that appealed to him as he waited for Tails to finish. He knew Tails loved to invent and tinker with machines, but at times like this, Sonic worried if Tails was pushing himself too hard. Despite being about as smart as Eggman give or take, Tails was still a kid. Mature beyond his years, no doubt, but still a kid. Sighing internally, Sonic let Tails be. After all, heroes can't rest when bad things occur. If it weren't for the injuries, he himself would've headed straight for the New City area to deal with Eggman's robots; as it so happened, that wasn't the case.

Sonic stopped before a box with a blueprint on top. Faintly making out the design sketched by the white lines, he realized it was a biplane. At first, Sonic believed it was for the Tornado; given how the plane took a pounding during the desert dogfight, Tails probably had the blueprint out to repair it. But there was something different about the plane in the drawing. And at the top, the design's plan read "Typhoon."

 _Could Tails be making another plane?_ Sonic wondered, scratching his head. _How many does he need?_

"There!"

Tails examined the C.E.T. with pride, chuckling. Sonic smiled in amusement.

 _Yup. Still a kid._

"Ready to join the party?" Sonic asked mischievously, raising his fist for a bump. Tails returned the gesture in kind.

"Of course!"

"Alright!" Sonic exclaimed. "Let's do it to it!"

* * *

"I'm sorry to say I can't actually help you."

"Huh?" Tails stood perplexed. "What do you mean?"

The guard positioned at the gate to the New City plaza expressed his sympathies. "I'm just a Lieutenant. My orders come straight from the Captain—no one is allowed to enter the New City area until it is safe." He paused for a moment, then continued. "But I understand the two of you have been trying to stop Eggman, correct?" Sonic and Tails nodded. Seeing this, the Lieutenant then suggested, "If you take it up with the Captain, he may grant you permission. Otherwise, this gate stays shut."

Sonic, not used to procedures, grew increasingly annoyed. This was an unexpected turn of events. He and Tails had a plan formed out and now this happens. The plan was so simple, too: he and Tails hit the New City area, trash Dr. Eggman's Badniks, find any clues among the robot wreckage and be on their way. And given how he fought against Eggman numerous times in the past, Sonic would think being a world-renowned hero would at least be enough to be granted special access.

Apparently not.

"So, where's the Captain?" Sonic sighed in defeat.

The guard shrugged. "How should I know?"

Now, Sonic and Tails were really lost. "What do you mean you don't know?" Tails asked.

"I mean, I don't know," the guard explained. "There are hundreds, if not thousands of members in the Soleanna Royal Guard, each with their own patrol routes. The Captain can be anywhere…" The guard then tried to offer a smile. "But if you talk to every soldier in town, you'll find him eventually, right?"

Sonic and Tails looked at each other. They said nothing, but the two knew what the other was thinking: the guard's joke was not funny.

Not. At. All.

Realizing they were getting nowhere fast, the two turned around and started to head back towards the item shop. Small groups of citizens were discussing what was going on the New City, a few mentioning how the guards and GUN were pushing Dr. Eggman's robots back into a corner. Sonic and Tails both knew GUN and the Soleanna Royal Guard could handle Eggman's machines, but since the two heroes have battled against the mad doctor in the past countless times, they felt it was their duty to deal with his robots.

Besides, the less people risking their lives, the better. Right?

Tails fell into a slump. "Well, so much for that idea. What do we do now?"

Sonic honestly had no idea. Eggman's robots were the only lead they had right now. If Eggman established more of an actual base at Wave Ocean, there may have been a database to work off of, but there wasn't.

If only that guard wasn't so…so…

Familiar.

Sonic stopped walking for a moment, prompting Tails to do the same. The sound of an old man's accordion rang through the air as he sang praises about Princess Blaze to the townsfolk. A light, warm breeze was kicking in, and the fountain in front of the gate gently reflected the sunlight.

Now that Sonic thought about it, that guard did look very familiar. The way he talked. How he sounded. Where had he seen him before?

A few seconds passed, and Sonic found the answer, a frown consequently forming on his face.

 _He was the one Lord Regis was addressing earlier!_

Normally, Sonic wasn't one to lose his cool, but being fooled by the Lieutenant (or, rather, the _Captain_ ) caused him to go from annoyed to ticked off. Storming back to the front of the gate with Tails slightly concerned, Sonic was about to confront the guard when another familiar voice rang through the air.

"Captain Pietro!"

Lord Regis ran up to the man known as Pietro in exhaustion, hunched over and breathing heavily. It was hard to decide whether he was more out of shape or fit for his age. Trying to recover his breath, Lord Regis tried to speak. "I've…gotten word…from a GUN soldier…the robots have been…detained to the warehouse area."

He kept trying to compose himself, panting in and out until finally he was a state of normalcy. Regis then continued. "I've informed the citizens of the update, but keep the gate closed until…" Regis stopped when he at last took notice of the blue hedgehog standing behind Captain Pietro. Recognizing him immediately, he exclaimed, "Oh, it's you!"

Captain Pietro turned around to see what his lord was looking at, only to become increasingly nervous when he realized it was the same person he had attempted to trick earlier. Sonic, who had just in a state of irritation, found himself smirking at the opportunity at hand. "Everything alright, _Lieutenant_?" he sarcastically asked.

"…!" Captain Pietro found himself trying to speak, but failed. Lord Regis laughed lightly. "Lieutenant? I'm afraid you're mistaken, my blue friend. This here is Captain Pietro."

Sonic continued to feign ignorance. "Is that so? My apologies, then. I must've mistaken him for someone else."

Tails did his best to suppress a chuckle, though he was on the brink of failing. Sonic continued. "Though I guess that's a good thing. You see, this Lieutenant told us that only the Captain here can let us through the gate, especially if our reason is to help stop Eggman's robots in the New City."

Lord Regis, believing Sonic's tale, smiled. "Well, I don't see why not? Your heroics with the Princess and her handmaiden are proof enough of your skills." Turning to Captain Pietro, Regis ordered, "Captain, let these two pass through."

Accepting defeat, Pietro replied glumly. "Yes, sir." Pietro then turned to the guards by the gate levers and signaled to them to open the gate. In a matter of moments, the grand, green doors cracked opened to allow admittance to the two heroes.

"Well," Lord Regis said, "I need to continue informing the citizens. Carry on, Captain!" Before he left, he turned to Sonic and Tails and bowed his head. "The people of Soleanna are indebted to you for all you have done. We will never forget your kindness."

Sonic modestly rubbed his nose. "No problem! It's what we do."

Lord Regis, pleased by this answer, wished them luck. He then broke back into a slow jog towards the eastern side of the Castle Town.

Sonic then turned to face Captain Pietro, who looked away ashamed.

"No words from you?" Sonic asked.

The Captain shook his head. "I didn't want anyone else in Soleanna's business. As the Royal Guards, it is our duty to protect the Princess and the citizens of Soleanna, but so far, we've been failing at that." He stopped for a moment as if trying to come to terms with himself, then admitted at a lower volume, "I was jealous. We've trained to handle dangerous situations, yet you've done a better job at protecting everyone—at an efficient time, no less. I wanted to prove that we could at least stop Eggman's robots without relying on strangers."

Pietro laughed lightly. "But I guess even the Royal Guards can't take full credit for this one, either. For all our technology, if it weren't for GUN, what's been happening in the New City would've probably turned out worse for us."

Sonic and Tails glanced at each other. They could understand Pietro's actions. Tails, more than anyone, probably related the most, which is why he spoke up first. "I used to rely on Sonic all the time in the past. He was my hero, and I followed him to the ends of the world. But when he wasn't there, I was scared of the world kicking me back to the curb. I started to realize over time that I couldn't keep relying on him for help, that I had to spread my own wings and fly. And I did, but I still rely on Sonic every now and then. After all…" Tails then grinned at Pietro. "What's wrong with getting help from others who offer it?"

Captain Pietro stood speechless for a moment. Considering this, he began to smile again. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Sonic folded his arms. "It's not like I'm trying to make you look bad or anything. I just want to stop Eggman and save Blaze. Nothing more than that. The question is, will you let me?"

Pietro gazed at Sonic, thinking about the hedgehog's question, then nodded. "You seem to…no, you _have_ the strength." Captain Pietro then stood in a formal position. "I will ask you on behalf of all the guards. Please, help us save the Princess!"

The two heroes responded unanimously. "Right!"

Satisfied with this answer, Captain Pietro pointed to the gate. "You'll find the warehouse district at the other side of the New City. Keep going straight in the direction opposite the entrance into the city, taking whatever turns you need to get around the buildings."

Sonic displayed a thumbs up, and with Tails following behind ran through the gate and the tunnel connecting to the New City of Soleanna.

On the other side laid a metropolis of skyscrapers and establishments. In contrast to the Castle Town, the ground of the New City was much more continental in nature, lacking any gaps of water between land. Not that it mattered to Sonic; as long as he could run from point A to point B, that's all he cared about. As he and Tails made their way through the city, they found GUN troops and Soleanna guards loading the remains of Eggman's robots into trucks. In addition, they unfortunately noticed wounded men and women being treated by medical professionals, a reminder that Eggman was not one to underestimate in terms of cruelness.

Following the instructions of Captain Pietro, the two found themselves standing in front of a long wall that stretched along the edge of the town. Behind it, the warehouse district of the New City. Sure enough, there were guards stationed in front of a barricaded fence leading into the district. The sounds of metal and ammo being fired could be heard from behind the fence.

Rather than risk dealing with another dilemma with the Royal Guards, Sonic and Tails decided to hop over the wall when the guards weren't looking. At a good distance away from the guarded entrance, Tails grabbed Sonic by the arms and propelled his twin tails to lift them up over the wall. Though Sonic wasn't particularly heavy, having to carry someone made it a lot harder for Tails to keep himself in the air. Still, the duration of the flight was short enough that it wasn't a problem.

Having made their way back to the entrance—this time on the other side—Sonic and Tails began to look around for Eggman's machines. It wasn't hard, however, as Badniks of numerous types were present; most of them were the familiar white-and-black Egg Gunners and Egg Rounders, but the two noticed a few oddballs. For example, two of the machines were much larger and bulkier, with hands instead of guns attached to their arms. Surrounding them were small, green, relatively spherical machines on wheels, each with horns right in the front.

And all of them were firing at a red figure who just punched one of the wheeled robots into the side of one of the warehouses ten feet away, though it was unclear whether its body broke apart upon impact with the wall or the sharp fist that sent it flying. The owner of said fist belonged to…

"Knuckles!" Tails exclaimed looking at Sonic, who simply nodded. The two had met Knuckles a long time ago; the red echidna was tricked by Eggman into believing Sonic was trying to steal the Master Emerald, the one gem capable of controlling the seven Chaos Emeralds. Upon realizing that Eggman was deceiving him, however, Knuckles teamed up with Sonic and Tails to stop Eggman's schemes. Since then, he and Sonic have developed a strong friendship with each other, though they occasionally butt heads every now and then.

Knuckles, engrossed in the fight between him and Dr. Eggman's Badniks, failed to hear Tails and continued smashing each robot around him with his fists. Sonic smirked at the sight. "Guess Knuckles got invited to this shindig as well." Turning to Tails, Sonic suggested they join in, an idea Tails agreed to immediately.

Wasting no time, the two heroes dashed forward to aid their fellow ally. Choosing to test his might against the bigger bots first, Sonic curled into a ball and rolled towards the fight at high speeds; as soon as he was close, he jumped forward and, maintaining his curled-up form, sliced perfectly into the goliath to the left of Knuckles. Sparks flew off in all directions, the center of the robot now showcasing a hollow hole as the machine itself fell backwards, offline.

Eggman's machines, along with Knuckles, took notice of the newcomers, but the mechs alone began to adjust their strategies and added Sonic and Tails as new targets. While Sonic continued to play with the giants, Tails threw a set of Dummy Rings at the small, green robots. The rings found their mark on some of the Badniks, but the fortunate ones sped towards Tails like meteors, their metal horns ready to pierce.

"Woah!" Tails flew upward in the nick of time to avoid the Badniks, their bodies slowing to a sudden stop. Incapable of looking up and down, the Badniks glanced around to reacquire their target to no avail.

 _Perfect,_ Tails thought as he prepared another batch of Dummy Rings to drop on them, only to stop as one of the Egg Gunners crashed into them, the velocity and weight being enough to turn them all into scrap metal. Upon tracing the origin of the projectile that was the Egg Gunner, Tails found Knuckles grinning smugly right back at him, only to turn and help finish off the last Badnik Sonic was dealing with.

 _Aww!_ Tails pouted like a puppy momentarily, only to shake his head out of it. _It doesn't matter. At least the Badniks are down for the count._ He then hurried over to rejoin his companions.

"Knuckles," Sonic said lightly.

"Hey guys," Knuckles responded. "Long time, no see. Thanks for the assist."

"Happy to help," Tails said. "But what are you doing so far from home?"

"Don't tell me you lost the Master Emerald again?" Sonic joked.

"Grr…" Knuckles hated when Sonic brings up the numerous times the Master Emerald got stolen or broken. As its guardian, Knuckles always feels responsible for whatever happens to the mysterious gem.

By that logic, Knuckles may be its worst guardian of all time. Fortunately, he always managed to retrieve or, in the events where it was shattered, reform the Master Emerald and return it to its rightful place on Angel Island.

Sonic didn't desist. "It's alright. You can tell us. What's it this time? Eggman or Rouge?"

"Neither." Knuckles shut his eyes, keeping his anger in check. When pushed too far, Knuckles tends to lose his calm exterior, becoming an aggressive, unreasonable individual. This time, he managed to remain stoic. "Although Eggman did try to steal the Master Emerald." He paused for a moment to recollect his memories. "While I was on Angel Island, Metal Sonic came by and tried to take the Master Emerald by force. Though he had one of the Chaos Emeralds with him, I stopped him, but he took off before I could finish pounding him into scrap. I followed him all the way here, only to find Eggman's mechs tearing up the place. Speaking of which…"

Knuckles pulled out a maroon, metallic rectangle with a glowing circle in the middle, tossing it to Sonic. "I saw Eggman flying past here a moment ago. He wanted me to give this to you."

Catching the item, Sonic examined it carefully. Beside the glowing circle, there was a button. Pressing it, a holographic visual of the mad doctor appeared out of the center.

" _Sonic the Hedgehog. If you want me to return the Princess, you must give me your Chaos Emerald. Meet me at my base in White Acropolis. There's a teleporter in town that will take you right outside the base. Failure to comply within three hours will result in the Princess'_ untimely _demise."_

The message ended, Sonic returned the message the same way to an unexpecting Knuckles, who juggled it in his hands before letting it fall to the ground. He crushed the message under his feet. "He's pretty cocky," Knuckles said.

"It's most definitely a trap," Tails added. "I don't think Eggman will honor his agreement."

"I'm going." Sonic's declaration of intent stunned Tails and Knuckles. They both knew Sonic can make rash decisions at times, jumping headfirst into danger when someone's life was on the line. But still…

"Sonic?" Tails asked, wanting his friend to clarify.

"If we don't do something, Eggman will kill Blaze," Sonic explained, pulling out the blue Chaos Emerald. Blaze had entrusted it to him, hoping he would keep it as far away from Eggman as possible. Now, it was his trump card for saving her life.

If it came to that.

Sonic then smirked, a playful attitude resonating in his eyes. "Besides, since Eggman went to the trouble of telling me where Blaze is, I think I should thank him personally. You OK, Knuckles?"

Sonic noticed Knuckles staring at the Chaos Emerald like a hawk, almost as if he was trying to make sure of something. "That Emerald…" he started. "Did you get that from Metal Sonic?"

"No. Why?"

Knuckles stood perplexed for a moment, then shook his head. "I must be mistaken then. So, let's find this teleporter."

* * *

"Race you to the bottom!"

Sonic jumped on his snowboard and began the long descent down the mountain. Tails and Knuckles followed suit, each trying to catch up to Sonic to answer his challenge. The sky was dark, and a light snow shower was coming down on the heroes as they swirled downward on the white ground beneath them.

Since Sonic's decision to head to White Acropolis, the three managed to procure snowboards for the snowy mountains. Soleanna got its fair share of snow during the winter, so the item shop had a few spare boards on hand for the three heroes' trip.

The teleporter was a bit more problematic. Eggman mentioned the teleporter being in Soleanna, but he neglected to give the exact coordinates, prompting Sonic and co. to waste time looking around. Fortunately, they found it a little bit past the train station, in a cave.

Guarded by Badniks and a laser security system, resulting in even more time being lost trying to overcome them.

As of now, they had forty-five minutes left to make it down the mountain, infiltrate the base, rescue the Princess and escape.

"Yahoo!" Sonic exclaimed as he jumped off a ramp, performing a series of tricks while midair. When the stakes were high, he couldn't help but feel energetic; it just makes things more fun.

A group of Egg Gunners flew over the heroes and began shooting at them. The weather slightly affected their visuals, causing their accuracy to fall a small percentage. Even so, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles evaded the path of the bullets, letting them leave imprints in the snow. As the robots continued to fire repeatedly, they failed to pay attention to their surroundings and, not surprising the heroes in the slightest, slammed straight into the rock walls of the mountains.

Knuckles snickered. "Guess Eggman should've put eyes in the back of their heads!"

Sonic and Tails chuckles in response. After all the Badniks the three of them had demolished in the past, it is pitiful that Dr. Eggman never considered such things. Then again, it may be because he focused more on making his robots faster and more powerful, so it's a give and take.

The robots' premature destruction came at a price, however, as the snow that was resting on top of the mountain the robots impacted began to slide down behind the heroes.

"Avalanche!" Tails yelled.

The three could do nothing but move forward in order to escape being buried in snow, the avalanche coming up fast behind them. Glancing ahead for a way out of their predicament, Sonic spotted a series of lights and plating.

"There's the base!" he shouted.

Indeed, Eggman's fortress of a secret base could be made out. Security towers pointed up towards the sky and down at the ground for intruders. Steel doors served to highlight the main entrance.

The only problem was that the base was on the other side of a wide gap, and the heroes were nearing the edge of the mountain.

"Tails!" Sonic pointed towards the gap while focusing on his friend. Tails, recognizing the obstacle ahead and what needed to be done, nodded in understanding.

Right at the edge, the three heroes jumped off the cliff and their boards; Tails grabbed ahold of Sonic's arms and carried him to the other side, while Knuckles simply glided across with ease. The snow from the avalanche spilled over the side of the mountain, and the snowboards the three had used became one with the stream of white.

Tails let go of Sonic as soon as he was close to the ground, the hedgehog giving the fox a thumbs up as he landed. Knuckles crossed his hands, gazing at the doors.

"Well, we're here." he said.

"This is a pretty cold place for a base," Sonic commented.

"No kidding."

The three walked up to the doors expecting them to open automatically, yet nothing happened.

"There should be a switch somewhere," Tails stated. "I'll go look for it."

Sonic and Knuckles nodded, and Tails took off flying over the wall. While waiting, Sonic tapped his foot impatiently. He hated having to stand around doing nothing, though he knew it couldn't be helped. A few minutes passed and, since Tails didn't return nor the doors open, Sonic decided to revisit something Knuckles said.

"Knuckles."

"Hm?"

"Earlier, you asked me if I got my Chaos Emerald from Metal. What made you think that?"

Knuckles rubbed the back of his head. "When I battled with him, it looked like he had the blue Chaos Emerald with him, just like the one you have."

"Well, that can't be right," Sonic countered. "When I faced him, he had the red one on hand."

"Is that so?" Knuckles thought long and hard for a moment. "Then it might be that Metal is helping Eggman acquire the Emeralds, but he leaves the ones he finds with Eggman before he searches for the others."

"I figured as much," Sonic said. "But how does that solve our little color mix-up?"

"Well," Knuckles explained, "He's blue, right? Maybe he was using the white Emerald, so I saw the color of his body or something."

"Or maybe he hit you in the head hard enough that you started see things!"

Knuckles growled at Sonic while the hedgehog was chuckling. Sometimes, he can be a pain to deal with. Before Knuckles could teach Sonic respect, the security doors finally opened up, with Tails appearing on the other side. He appeared to be a little hurt (most likely due to Eggman's mechs and security measures), but he stood proud. "Found it!"

Sonic and Knuckles looked at each other, letting their animosity go for the time being; they had a villain to stop, after all. "Alright," Sonic said. "Don't want to keep the egghead waiting!"

* * *

"You're late." Eggman stated as the heroes rushed right into the circular chamber, metal plating all around them. Eggman, however, was positioned above the trio, behind a strong, protective glass window.

Knuckles was the first to speak up. "Well, we had to deal with your little pets…not to mention finding where you were."

Eggman made no effort to apologize, not that he would. The knucklehead was right, of course. He didn't specify where in the base Sonic and his friends would find him, nor had he made it easy to get inside. Now, watching the heroes on the security footage tear apart his machines annoyed him, but they can be rebuilt anytime. In the end, the robots did their part by being organized in a way to lure the heroes to this very room.

It was time for Sonic's interference to end.

"Where's Blaze?" Sonic demanded.

"My, aren't we impatient…" Eggman scoffed, but he at least answered the rodent's question by using the controls in front of him to bring Princess Blaze into view, tied down to a movable platform with a more secured version of his special restraints for her. This way, she would not be able to escape so easily with or without Tails' assistance.

"Sonic!" Blaze exclaimed. She tried to use her powers to break free, only to end up getting a painful shock from the restraints. Sonic and his friends stepped forward ready to fight, but Eggman was one step ahead.

"Ah ah," he warned, pulling out one of his personal dual pistols. Coated in grey and red with his empire's symbol, Dr. Eggman thought it would be wise to carry a weapon in case his machines were unable to assist him. He learned the hard way from the Chaotix what it felt like not to have a weapon handy at all times. "You better not move, lest you want the Princess' rule to come to an end."

Eggman paused, waiting for Sonic and his friends to yield. As expected, they did. He then continued. "Now, the Chaos Emerald…I presume you still have it?" Sonic looked at him with defiance in his eyes, but the hero continued to keep him pleased by taking out the Chaos Emerald he carried with him. Eggman then input a few commands on the controls near him, and a cylinder near Sonic rose up from the ground.

"Place it there."

Hearing this, Sonic looked to the right of his nemesis towards Blaze, a look of concern on her face. He smiled apologetically, knowing he failed to keep his promise of keeping the Emerald safe.

Blaze was speechless. Like him, she knew it was a trap and didn't want Sonic to give in to Eggman's demands. But what could she do with a gun pointed at her head and her hands and feet restrained? If she died, the Flames of Disaster would be unleashed on the world, resulting in the bad future she had seen countless times. In the end, she could only look away from Sonic, ashamed at her inability to do something.

Sonic's smile faded and, though he didn't like it, placed the Chaos Emerald on the cylinder. It descended back into the ground, and a panel slid over to conceal the gem.

Eggman grinned evilly as he put his gun away. He then pressed one particularly isolated button with vigor. "Hmph!"

The chamber door behind Sonic, Tails and Knuckles shut quickly, a warning signal echoing off the walls for a brief moment before turning off. Above the three, a hot pink series of rings formed and ran downward, surrounding them; electricity of the same color flashed with the newly formed shield.

The three heroes looked around at the phenomenon, unsure of what was happening. Knuckles, in an attempt to break out of the area, tried smashing his fist into it, only for his hand to be zapped, causing him to stagger backwards.

"It's no use," Eggman stated. "It's too powerful for you to overcome. Now, allow me to introduce you to my latest creation: this is the Solaris Prototype."

"…!" Blaze couldn't help but gasp at what she heard. _Solaris…Prototype?_ she thought, fearing for Sonic and his friends. With a name like that, what was Eggman going to do to them? And if it's a prototype, what would the final version be like?

The mad scientist let out a light, sinister laugh as he walked over to a large lever to Blaze's left. "With this machine," he said pulling the lever down, "I'll be able to control the flow of time itself!"

Sonic and his friends suddenly felt light, and began to gravitate upwards towards the top of the room.

"Woooaahhh!"

"Aaahhhhh!"

"Auuughh!"

And in a flash of light, the heroes were gone, a few strands of electricity remaining only to die off.

"Sonic!" Blaze screamed, but it did no good. Realizing Sonic and his friends were gone, she felt her knees becoming numb; she wanted to drop to the ground, but the restraints on her legs failed to allow such movement. Instead, she lowered her head in mourning.

 _Is he…really…?_

Eggman saw the distress on her face and, seeing it in his favor to try and make Blaze as cooperative with him as possible, decided to soothe her pain. "Rest assured. They're not dead…yet." He spoke the truth, of course. The Solaris Prototype wasn't designed to kill, and as much as he would've _loved_ to end Sonic's life right then and there, he convinced himself that using Sonic and his friends as new guinea pigs for the machine would prove to be far more informational. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but express his desire for Sonic to be dead.

Blaze looked up at Eggman. Though she still showed distress on her face, she wanted him to explain, so he did as he walked over to the reports' screen.

"They've just been teleported by my glorious invention to another time. Who knows where they'll end up? It could be the distant past or far future." Eggman paused to review the data. "But my machine still requires some fine-tuning."

Turning to face Blaze, he added, "In fact, what my machine needs in order to be complete, is your power."

"My power?"

"Yes." Eggman stared proudly out the window at his invention. He thought back to how he came to learn about Solaris and the Flames of Disaster. When GUN began taking an interest in Soleanna, he had hacked into their database and learned quite a bit about the Solaris Project and the two beings that would bring about untold devastation. With such power, he could at long last solidify his empire, as well as crush all who resist.

"I can finally complete my plans," he said. "Once I have all of the Chaos Emeralds, and you…The Princess of Soleanna." He returned his gaze to Blaze. "That's all I need to revive the Flames of Disaster. And with its power, I will be able to control everything and rule the world."

Upon hearing this, Blaze thought back to her visions of the future world, picturing Eggman laughing over the despair of others. It made her sick, and she looked back at him with great disdain.

But he just smiled. "I know what you're thinking," Eggman said. "And I don't blame you. After what I've done to you and your citizens, you have every reason to hate me. However…" He paused for dramatic effect, then continued. "I want you to understand that this will be in both of our favor. Based on what I've discovered, you were burdened with such power at a young age, and the power itself will only be free if you cry…or die. Is that correct?"

Blaze wanted to say something, but no words came out. How did Eggman know about how the Flames were released? The only people who knew such secrets were those closest to her in the Soleanna Court and…

"…!"

 _Wait…_ she thought. _He said he_ discovered _it. If I've kept such secrets hidden from others except a select few, only one logical option remained._

GUN. The organization was the only other group that knew the truth. Eggman must've hacked them and learned about the Solaris Project.

Behind his glasses, Eggman closed his eyes after seeing the Princess' reaction as confirmation. He then said, "If my plan succeeds, you will be alleviated of such a responsibility—a good thing, for a busy ruler such as yourself. Think about it: when something terrible happens, you won't have to fight back any more tears, or you can charge headfirst into the battlefield without worrying about what comes after your death." Eggman stopped to consider something, smiling at his own machinations. "And if you cooperate with me, I'll make sure you and all of Soleanna are well-rewarded. You will be one of the shining utopias of the Eggman Empire. So, you would be wise to remain on my 'good' side."

Blaze couldn't face Eggman anymore. Hearing his words was like being burned by acid. She just looked at the floor with her neutral composure returning, a hint of sadness and anger still remaining on her face.

The door to exit the control room slid open, revealing a blue robot that looked almost identical to Sonic. Blaze wanted to say Sonic's name, only to stop when she realized who—no, _what_ it was.

"Ah, Metal." Eggman said. "Perfect timing. Please escort the Princess to her quarters, and then report back here." He then addressed Blaze one last time. "I'll make sure to adjust your living quarters to your liking later." Having said that, Eggman returned to the monitors as Metal Sonic pushed Blaze softly in the back, causing the platform beneath her to move due to the force. After a couple of minutes, Metal returned to Eggman.

"Now," Eggman said. "Let's see that Chaos Emerald."

Obeying his creator's order, Metal Sonic opened up his center and pulled out a deep blue gem; his mission was to find all the Chaos Emeralds for Eggman and give them to him; he had already done so with the red Emerald, so the blue one was no different.

"Huh?!" Eggman swiped the Chaos Emerald out of Metal Sonic's hand in a heartbeat, trying to get a closer look. "How can this be?"

 _I just forced Sonic to surrender the blue Emerald,_ Eggman recalled. _How can Metal Sonic have the same one?_

Maybe it was a fake? Yes, that's possible. The fox boy tried the same thing on the ARK a while back, so maybe comparing the energy readings might tell him something. Tapping away at the controls, he scanned the Emerald in his hands as well as the Emerald in the Solaris Prototype, only to be baffled at the results. "The energies are the same? How?!"

Dr. Eggman was at a lost. Two Chaos Emeralds of the same color, each with identical energy readings. How can two of the same Emerald exist at the same time?

Wait. _Time._

Eggman looked out the window towards the Solaris Prototype, then began laughing. The solution to this enigma was obvious: one of the Chaos Emeralds was not from the present. In which case, he now had a back-up.

Of course, this did bring some sense of risk. If one of the Emeralds he now possessed really did come from a different time, then the other was destined to disappear into the time-stream, right? Either that, or perhaps the Chaos Emerald that traveled in time would end up being returned to whenever it came from at some point. Either way, Eggman would make use of both of them until then.

Contemplating on where to use the other Emerald, he thought back to the recent number of intruders White Acropolis had encountered. Perhaps the spare Emerald would provide a boost to one of his security robots.

And he knew which one to put it in: the Egg Genesis security robot.

* * *

Blaze sat in silence in her 'quarters' as Eggman had called it, yet it was nothing more than a cell. The day she had prayed would be filled with more enjoyable moments with Sonic, the day she thought would be as bright as the sunrise, turned out to be disheartening. Sonic was gone and might die in some far-off time, and Eggman would win.

Worst of all, the future would be ruined.

The future.

" _Who knows where they'll end up? It could be the distant past or far future."_

It hadn't occurred to Blaze. Sonic and his companions could be there, in the ruined city of Soleanna with Iblis. A future she believed to be the result of Eggman.

" _If you cooperate with me, I'll make sure you and all of Soleanna are well-rewarded. You will be one of the shining utopias of the Eggman Empire."_

Blaze clenched her teeth, hate in her eyes. She knew what would become of Soleanna. It won't be a utopia, except maybe in Eggman's eyes.

" _You would be wise to remain on my 'good' side."_

Blaze formed a fiery fist, her temper reaching its limit. Upon being placed in the room, the restraints on her hands automatically unlocked, allowing her to move around freely; supposedly, the cell was designed to withstand her powers. Despite knowing this, yelling in anger she punched one of the walls hard.

 _Bump!_

She breathed heavily and her hand now hurt, but she didn't care. However, she did notice one thing: the area she had hit now had a considerable dent in it. Seeing this, Blaze turned to the cell door with determination and rage. She began pounding at it repeatedly.

 _Bump!_

She would break out of here.

 _Bump!_

She would tighten security in Soleanna.

 _Bump!_

She would fight back against Dr. Eggman and his machines.

 _Bump!_

And she would _destroy_ him.


	6. Chapter 5 (Sonic)

**Chapter 5 (Sonic): The Distant Future**

 _Zizz-ba-doom!_

"Woooaaaahh!"

 _Fa-thud!_

Performing a flip in the air, Sonic was able to land safely on his feet.

The same could not be said, unfortunately, for Tails and Knuckles.

As the fox and the echidna tried to clear their dizziness, Sonic began to observe his surroundings. The room they were in was cylindrical in shape, metal plating lining the walls; the metal itself appeared rusted beyond measure, but the walls and floor had scorch marks on them as well. Above the three heroes, a broken window could be seen.

 _This room,_ Sonic thought. _Could it be…?_

"Boy, do I feel dizzy…" Sonic turned to see Tails shaking his head and groaning. He couldn't help but pity his poor friend. Same for Knuckles. When his vision cleared up, Tails asked, "Where are we?"

Right as Sonic was about to share his thoughts, he heard the sound of feet—two pairs of feet, in fact—strolling across metal, breaking the already uncomfortable hollowness of the place. Gazing up back towards the broken window, Sonic prepared for whatever it was that was coming.

Only to find himself surprised at who it was.

"Oh, look who's here! I didn't expect to see you guys."

Standing above the three heroes were two figures. The one that spoke was a white bat girl, dressed in a black, sleeveless unitard with white gloves and boots; a dab of pink was present on the gloves and boots; the most notable aspect of her outfit was a large, pink heart chestplate-like top. Beside her, in contrast, was a black hedgehog with red streaks along the arms, legs, and quills. He eyed the group of heroes with his arms crossed, a look of indifference on his face.

"Rouge!" Tails exclaimed. "Shadow!"

Rouge waved her hand lightly. "Hi! Long time, no see!" She then stared at Knuckles, smiling mischievously at his wary glare. "I don't suppose you're still mad about me stealing the Master Emerald a few weeks ago?" Knuckles responded with a growl, his teeth as sharp as a canine. Sonic's next question eased the atmosphere created by Rouge and Knuckles. "You wouldn't happen to know where we're at, would you?"

Rouge's smile vanished instantly. "Well, believe it or not, we're inside Dr. Eggman's base in White Acropolis."

The three heroes froze upon hearing this, but Sonic was the least bit stunned. He had recognized the room they were in, despite the state it was in. But what had happened here?

"That can't be…" Knuckles said. "What did Eggman's machine do, then?"

Shadow finally broke his silence to answer the echidna's inquiry. "It sent you through time. To the future." Seeing the three full of disbelief, Shadow suggested, "Maybe you should see the city to believe it." With that, he turned and began walking away.

Rouge pointed her thumb in the direction Shadow was going. "There's still one teleporter left intact. Come on. We'll show you where."

Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles exchanged glances with each other. They knew they weren't going to get anywhere just standing around in this room. Besides, they were all curious about what became of Soleanna in the future.

Joining Rouge above, they followed her down the empty corridors to the teleporter she mentioned, where Shadow was waiting. Having tapped in the coordinates, he nodded at Rouge to confirm it was ready.

"We came here through this teleporter to see if Eggman had anything to get us back home," Rouge explained, a slight smile returning to her face. "We just don't know if it will work going back. How about it, Knucklehead? Care to be the first guinea pig?"

"Why you…!"

Before Knuckles could finish his sentence, Sonic stepped forward onto the teleporter. He wasn't afraid, but he was anxious to see the future world they were in. Part of it was due to something that white hedgehog, Silver, said:

" _For the future of the world, I will destroy you!"_

If this was the future that Silver spoke ominously about in his threat, Sonic had to see it for himself.

"I was kidding." Rouge saw the serious expression on Sonic's face, thinking he was concerned about the teleporter. Broken out of his deep thought, Sonic gave Rouge a reassuring wink and a thumbs up. Rouge then turned to Shadow and nodded; Shadow activated the teleporter with the controls, causing Sonic to disappear before their eyes. The rest of them followed afterwards.

* * *

 _Bump! Bump! Bump!_

Blaze was running short of breath, inhaling and exhaling rapidly. Her gloved hands had small tears where her fists had made contact with the cell door; her hands were bleeding and they hurt like crazy, yet she continued to pound away. The door had small craters all over it, the bolts holding it down coming loose.

She was almost done.

Taking a moment to recover, Blaze looked down at her hands, thinking of everything that had happened up until now. The attack on the Festival of the Sun. Meeting Sonic. Sacrificing herself for Cream. Sonic rescuing her from Dr. Eggman and their time together. Eggman kidnapping her again.

And Eggman sending Sonic and his friends on a one-way trip through time.

She clenched her hands once more and, igniting them, charged at the door with all her might.

"Hwuah!"

 _Bump! Klunk!_

The door hinges finally gave up their battle with the Princess, letting the door fall to the floor in defeat. Blaze let her arms rest as she continued to try regaining control over her breathing.

She had done it. She had broken out of her cell.

Now, she just needed to escape.

Blaze would've loved to just head straight to Dr. Eggman and give him what he deserves, but she knew such reckless action would not bode well for her. For starters, she was in his territory, meaning he must have tight security around this place. If the security robots caught her (or worse, killed her), then it would have all been for nothing.

Even if that wasn't the case, Blaze did not know the full extent of her powers. As a princess, she learned how to defend herself, sure, but her flames were still unpredictable and, as she had discovered recently, she was prone to passing out due to visions.

No, now was not the time to confront the mad doctor. She needed to get out of here and gather reinforcements. Only then would she take him down, put him on trial for his crimes and lock him up somewhere where he'd never see the light of day again!

"Er…"

"Oh, uh…" As soon as she exited her cell, Blaze found herself staring face-to-face with a pink hedgehog in a red dress. She seemed too out of place to be in league with Eggman, so Blaze assumed she might've been another prisoner that escaped.

As they continued glazing at each other, an alarm went off, the corridors immediately filled with flashing red lights. A female voice spoke on the intercom:

" _Prisoner has escaped from Cell Block C-17. All patrolling guards, begin searching immediately. I repeat…"_

"This way!" The pink hedgehog grabbed Blaze's hand, urging her to follow.

"O-ok." Blaze, initially startled by the girl's actions, allowed her to guide her through the halls, leaving an echo of footsteps resonating off the walls amid the sirens. As they continued to run together, three security robots—Eggman called them the Egg Rounders—caught sight of the two and moved to detain them. The pink hedgehog let go of Blaze and, upon pulling out a large gold and red hammer from who knows where, raced forward and smashed the leading Rounder in the side, causing it to spiral into one of its friends. As the two robots broke into parts, the remaining Egg Rounder grabbed the hedgehog's hammer as she swung to hit it, lifting it and her off of the ground.

"Ah!" The pink hedgehog screamed from this unexpected turn of events. "Let go!"

As the Egg Rounder attempted to grab the girl with its free hand, Blaze rushed forward instinctively to protect her new companion. Her hands still hurt from bashing them against her cell door, but the same could not be said about her feet. She jumped forward and attacked the Badnik's head with a fiery kick, causing it to fly off. The loss of its head made the robot's body let go of the hedgehog and her hammer, and it fell to the floor dead.

"Thanks!" the pink hedgehog said to Blaze. Blaze silently nodded, and the two continued moving down the hallway. While running, Blaze began to readjust her earlier hypothesis about the female hedgehog. If she had a weapon with her, then that left a few possibilities: A) She was a prisoner that didn't have her weapon confiscated for whatever reason, B) She was a prisoner that managed to procure a weapon, or C) She wasn't a prisoner at all. If the last option was true, why was she here to begin with? Considering this, an idea crossed Blaze's mind.

 _Maybe she's here to rescue me._

She then remembered what happened to the last person who tried to rescue her; thinking back to Sonic being sent through time sent a shiver down Blaze's back. _No,_ she told herself. _I won't let that happen to her, even if she is here to save me._

A few seconds later, the same intercom voice sounded another warning:

" _Intruder alert! Intruder alert! All patrolling guards, head to Sector SG-9 immediately and apprehend the intruders. I repeat…"_

 _Intruders, huh?_ Blaze thought. She hoped it wasn't anyone else here to liberate her, but if the intruders were going to keep the Badniks from going after the two of them, Blaze was fine with that.

With the pink hedgehog leading the way, Blaze ran with her to find the way out of this hellish place.

* * *

Sonic had seen an entire city flooded before. In all of his adventures up until now, he had encountered haunted houses, an abandoned space colony, and the most sinister bases Eggman had ever created.

But this…this was the definition of desolation.

Standing atop one of the remaining pieces of concrete, Sonic and his friends looked around petrified at the ruins before them. Buildings were either struggling to remain standing (albeit leaning), or they were lying on the ground in large chunks; the glass windows were all shattered, the lights inside as dead as night. Lava and fire could be seen in numerous areas of the city's remains, the orange color being reflected in the skies above. To top it all, a hollow wind blew through the empty air.

 _Unreal…_ Sonic thought, knowing he wasn't the only one. Tails and Knuckles could hardly believe what they were looking at either.

This place was once Soleanna?

"This is the distant future," Shadow stated from behind. "Far removed from our own timeline."

"The future?" Tails turned to see the black hedgehog nod in affirmation; Tails lowered his head with dread. He had heard Shadow back at White Acropolis, but hearing it a second time gave him no comfort. How could it? He was standing in a town that, only a few minutes ago was full of life and beauty, and now because of Dr. Eggman's machine he was here.

That machine…

" _With this machine, I'll be able to control the flow of time itself!"_

" _It sent you through time. To the future."_

"Eggman's machine…" Tails muttered, just loud enough to catch Sonic and Knuckles' attention. "It really can control time."

Sonic curled his fingers into fists at the sound of Eggman's name. Seeing this destruction, he just knew the old doctor had to be responsible for it all. And of all the places he chose to send them to…

"Eggman's got some nerve dropping us here," Sonic finally said. He put his arms to his hips, trying to contemplate what Eggman will do now that the three of them were stuck in the future.

Knuckles kicked a rock in front of him. "So, how can we get back to our own time?"

"You need a space-time rift," Shadow explained. "But this requires a lot of energy."

Sonic thought about what Shadow said. The black hedgehog, known as the Ultimate Lifeform, was able to harness incredible power—the power of Chaos, to be precise. In fact, it was from Shadow that Sonic learned how to use Chaos Control (albeit using a fake Emerald to test it out for the first time).

 _Hold on…_ Sonic thought. _A space-time rift…and if Chaos Control could move a person faster than the eye can see…_

"…!"

The answer was clear.

"I see…" Sonic said to Shadow. "If we use Chaos Control—"

"Yes," Shadow interjected, knowing where Sonic was going. "But that alone is insufficient."

"What if," Tails suggested, "We used two Chaos Emeralds instead of one?"

Shadow contemplated this for a moment. "I believe that should work. Still, we need two Emeralds."

Rouge let out a sigh. "I don't suppose you guys have any on you?" The three heroes shook their heads. She then turned to Knuckles, no playfulness in her mood. "Not even the Master Emerald?" Again, Knuckles shook his head.

The two teams stood in silence for a moment, trying to think of ideas. And then…

"I got it!" Tails exclaimed. He pulled out the C.E.T. and held it in front of him. "We can use this."

Seeing the C.E.T., Sonic grasped what Tails had in mind immediately. "Nice thinking, Tails!"

"What is that?" Rouge asked, confused.

Tails elaborated. "I made this as a way to track down the Chaos Emeralds in case we ever needed to find them. Let me just turn it on, adjust the range, and…" Tails pushed a few buttons on the device, and in a few seconds the C.E.T. emitted a slow, continuous beeping sound. On the screen, two dots could be seen blinking. "Looks like there are two Emeralds in the city right now."

Sonic nodded in understanding. Turning to Shadow, he boldly said, "Okay Shadow. You up to a little teamwork?" Shadow silently acknowledged his approval, unamused at Sonic's more _childish_ nature.

"Okay then," Tails said. "Here's the plan: Sonic, Knuckles and I will try and find the Emerald _here_." Tails pointed to the blinking dot on the eastside of the C.E.T. screen. "That should be around the main business district." Pointing at the other dot in the northwest corner, Tails turned to address Shadow and Rouge. "You two try to find the other Emerald _here_ , near the exit to the city. We'll rendezvous with you on the outskirts of the city, in the mountain region that leads to White Acropolis."

The two GUN agents agreed, but Rouge asked, "How will we find each other if we don't find the Emeralds?" Tails smiled. "No problem. I have a radio with…huh?" Tails tried to pull out his radio—he uses it to contact Sonic in case of an emergency—but he found that it wasn't there.

Rouge cleared her throat, waving a small red radio in her hand; realizing he'd been robbed, Tails stood speechless. Rouge smiled naughtily, returning Tails' radio to him. "Got to be more careful, fox boy!"

Sonic noticed Shadow huff at Rouge's antics. Clearly, he wasn't amused. _Makes sense,_ Sonic thought as he watched him and Rouge walk away. _He always puts his mission first. Then again, he hardly gets amused at anything._

After the two agents left, Sonic put a fist to his hand grinning. "What are we waiting for? The sooner we get that Emerald, the sooner we can go home and thank Eggman for this trip!" Tails and Knuckles chuckled at the thought of _thanking_ Eggman, and together the three set out from their position.

* * *

Blaze and the pink hedgehog strolled down the familiar streets of Soleanna's New City. Having used one of the teleporters in Dr. Eggman's base, the two were able to escape the mad scientist's fortress in the mountains and his legion of metallic minions.

 _Finally…_ Blaze felt relieved. Once again, she was free from Eggman, allowing her to execute her plan to retaliate effectively against her kidnapper.

And yet, she still never got the name of her companion, nor had she thanked her.

"Thank you for helping me escape," Blaze said to the girl. "I am forever grateful, Miss…?"

"I'm Amy," the girl answered. "Amy Rose. What's your name?"

"My name is Blaze."

"Blaze…" Amy looked up and down at Blaze, making the cat girl a little nervous. "Wait, you're not Blaze, the Princess of Soleanna, are you?" When Blaze nodded, Amy suddenly became cheerful. "My friend Cream told me about you!"

 _Cream?_ Blaze wasn't expecting to hear her friend's name from Amy. "You know Cream?"

"Of course! We're best friends. To think she's the handmaiden of the Princess of Soleanna, and here I am talking with the Princess herself!" Grabbing Blaze's hands, Amy added, "Nice to meet you!"

"L-likewise." Blaze did her best to smile in this situation. Even when meeting friends of her friends, it was difficult for Blaze to be social outside of what was expected of her being royalty.

Amy then realized something, her smile disappearing as a result. "Oh no. Someone might already be on their way to rescue you!"

 _Wait…_ Blaze realized. "You mean, you weren't trying to rescue me yourself?"

Amy shook her head. "I was looking for someone else when I bumped into you. I hope I didn't ruin your rescuer's plan."

Hearing this, Blaze remembered what had happened to Sonic and his friends prior to her escape, leaving her feeling blue. Noticing this, Amy asked, "What's wrong?"

"Someone," Blaze explained, "Someone was, but…"

 _Eggman sent them on a one-way trip through time,_ she wanted to say, but couldn't bring herself to say it. Instead, she said, "I don't think they'll be able to, anymore."

It still felt like a bad dream, but the fact of the matter was Sonic was gone. Maybe for good.

"Don't give up hope," Amy said. "I'm sure they won't rest until they find a way to rescue you. You'll just have to keep believing."

"Amy…"

"Nope!" Amy cut Blaze off. "If this guy truly cares about you, he'll do it. Take it from a girl with experience."

 _A girl with experience?_ Blaze wondered if Amy had been in her position before. Maybe Amy, too had someone that was determined enough to rescue her, just like Sonic tried to for her.

Sonic…

Ever since she had met him, the blue hedgehog ignored her request to run off with her Chaos Emerald, followed Eggman to a desert _and_ a mountain save her. Considering Amy's words, Blaze knew Sonic was determined.

Maybe…just maybe…he could find a way back. It was a fool's gambit, but it was enough to fill Blaze with hope.

Blaze smiled. "Perhaps…perhaps you're right. Thank you, Amy." She considered something for a moment, then added, "I don't believe you will need to worry about _ruining_ my rescuer's plan."

"Huh? Why's that?"

"This person once said to me, 'Nothing starts until you take action.' I was already following his advice when you found me, after I escaped from my cell. I think he would be content if someone else saved me if he couldn't."

Amy giggled lightly, flattered by Blaze's gratitude. Seeing the princess' smile, however, brought a question to mind. "So, this guy…You wouldn't happen to have feelings for this person, would you?"

"Huh?!" Blaze didn't know how to respond. Where was this coming from? "No! Of course not."

"Your face says it all," Amy teased.

"I only met him a few days ago," Blaze countered, looking away embarrassed. "No one falls in love that fast."

As a princess, she was expected to marry at some point in her life to carry on the royal bloodline. Though she had her fair share of potential suitors, none were to her liking and many others were too scared of her to even offer their hand.

But Sonic? A potential suitor? Nonsense.

Amy walked past Blaze, amused at Blaze's ignorance. "You'd be surprised. Love can happen at any time, and when it does it changes everything. It feels like every little moment in your life is huge! Doesn't it?" She stared back at Blaze with sparkles in her eyes; Blaze could do nothing more than nervously laugh at Amy's perception of love.

The pink hedgehog walked closer to Blaze, a mischievous passion of curiosity emanating from her. "So, what does this guy look like? Have you already been on a date with him?"

Blaze shook her head and, again tried to deny any romantic entanglements with Sonic. "N-no…we're not dating!"

"You're not?! Oh, a one-way love! That's so cute."

"What?"

"Come on, there's no need to be shy. Look, you're a Princess and you're super cute. Whoever this guy is, he's the lucky one."

Blaze put her hand to her head. _Why is she so adamant about me being in love? Is Amy some sort of romantic?_

Putting her hands behind her back, Amy looked up towards the sky. "I also have someone that I'm pursuing, too."

"You mean, you have someone you're interested in?" Blaze asked.

"Not interested in," Amy corrected. " _Destined_ to be with." Closing her eyes, Amy thought back to an older point in time. "When I was younger, I used to read tarot cards to predict my own fortune—I still do, from time to time. One day, I found I was destined to meet a great hero that I would end up marrying." Amy's expression changed to one of annoyance. "Of course, every time I bring up marriage, he always runs away, but I won't let that stop me!"

 _Did I say romantic?_ Blaze reconsidered. _Maybe stalker was more accurate._

Still, Blaze couldn't help but giggle a little. As crazy as Amy's machinations are, she wasn't so bad. Maybe later, Blaze can talk to Cream about her friendship with Amy and learn a bit more about her.

"What's so funny?" Amy asked.

"I-it's nothing," Blaze replied, trying to control herself. "I think it's nice that you have someone you care about."

Amy smiled. "Don't forget, you have someone, too." She proceeded to grab Blaze's hands, taking the princess by surprise. "I'll wish us both luck in our romantic endeavors!"

Blaze returned Amy's smile. _Guess there's no winning with her,_ she thought.

"…!" Amy gasped at something behind Blaze; glancing back, Blaze saw what was to be expected: a squadron of Eggman's robots flying towards them.

"Hmph!" Amy huffed, pulling out her Piko Hammer. "That man never learns to quit!" Turning to Blaze, Amy said, "Leave them to me."

"Are you sure?" Blaze didn't want to leave Amy to fight Dr. Eggman's forces alone, partly because it wouldn't feel right of her to leave a friend to battle alone.

"I'm sure," Amy replied. "Just get to your castle. After all…" Amy winked at Blaze. "You owe your knight in shiny armor a date, right? You don't want to postpone it _again_ due to Eggman."

Blaze wanted to argue, but Amy was right. Not about the date, but the fact that Eggman won't quit until he had her in his clutches again. Once she was back at the castle, Blaze could promptly respond to Eggman's forces.

That was her original plan, after all.

Besides, Blaze saw how dangerous Amy can be with that hammer, even with her helping the pink hedgehog. If anyone could hold their own in a fight, it was Ms. Rose.

Nodding in response, Blaze left her new friend alone as she raced to the docks in the Soleanna Castle Town.

Amy stood proudly against the Egg Gunners that landed in front of her, their weapons raised against her. Gripping her hammer tightly, she rushed towards them at full speed.

"Haaa!"

And parts went flying.

* * *

"In there!" Tails yelled as he pushed to keep up with Sonic and Knuckles, pointing at an upcoming building. Reacting accordingly, Sonic and Knuckles continued to move at fast as they were able to while trying to adjust their direction of movement towards the building Tails was pointing at.

All while avoiding debris, cars, and the occasional billboard from the fiery tornado behind them…not to mention the fire demons in front of them.

Knuckles knocked down one that came flying at them, its body dissipating into nothingness. "How many of these creatures are there?!"

Sonic chuckled. "Don't tell me you're getting tired now!"

Knuckles grunted in response as the three ran into the building's entrance—whatever remained of it, anyways. The three watched as the whirlwind of fire passed by, objects splitting off from it in all directions. It didn't matter where they hit, of course. What more damage could be done in a city full of wreckage? It's like swatting a fly with paper: a meaningless effort.

The C.E.T.'s beeping started to beep immensely. Examining the device, Tails said, "We're very close. It should be down this hallway." The three stared ahead at the scorched path in front of them; once a beautiful white-colored building for some corporation or firm, all that remained was an empty husk. Sonic took the first step forward. "Let's get that Emerald."

For a while, the three walked in silence, glancing into rooms only to look away immediately from the sights they saw. Every room was full of nothing more than debris, tables flipped over and marks on the walls. Eventually, they passed the public section of the building and entered the private security and maintenance area; the ceiling now showcased pipes, and fewer doors were present.

Knuckles finally broke the silence. "No matter where we go, all we see are ruins. How can this be our future?"

Tails shook his head wondering the same thing. "How could it come to this?"

"Shh!" Sonic's sudden shushing sound made Tails and Knuckles focus on the hedgehog, their muscles becoming tense. Sonic pointed towards one of the doors that was slightly creaked open, a greenish glow emanating from it.

As well as voices.

"If I eliminate that guy, will our world be saved?"

"…!" Sonic recognized that voice and, peeking inside, did everything in his power to remain undetected.

In the room was an array of terminals and a large supercomputer responsible for the light they saw. In front of the computer stood three individuals, one of which was Silver. The other two, a black hedgehog with greyish-blue streaks and a lilac cat. Come to think of it, they almost looked like…

 _Shadow and Blaze?!_ Sonic thought. _No, it can't be!_

Tails and Knuckles, who were also peering inside, must've been thinking the same thing given the expressions on their faces. But like Sonic, the two kept quiet.

"The Day of Disaster…" the black hedgehog said in a haunting, yet collected voice. Turning to the computer, he pressed a few buttons. "Here are my records of this event. This was when Iblis was freed and his flames were released into the world."

The computer's screen suddenly became assaulted with articles and images, though Sonic, Tails and Knuckles couldn't see them too well from here. As if on cue, Silver gave a hint as to what had appeared. "Blaze…is that really you?"

It was hard to seen Blaze's expression from behind, but she said, "I-I don't remember. And yet…these images look familiar."

"You," the black hedgehog explained to Blaze, "Were once the ruler of a kingdom long ago, but your untimely demise resulted in the Flames of Disaster held within you to be unleashed upon an unsuspecting world."

"But how is she still alive, then?" Silver asked.

"Even though Iblis was freed from her, she still holds onto a portion of his powers. And as you well know…"

"He can keep coming back after being defeated!" Silver realized. "Blaze has that ability, too?!"

"Regardless of what she can do, she nor you can defeat Iblis here and now. You must go back in time and prevent the Day of Disaster by killing the Iblis Trigger."

The black hedgehog then pulled out a purple Chaos Emerald, the same one Tails had detected. "And you have this person to blame."

Silver took the Chaos Emerald and stared deeply into it for a moment. Then, he exclaimed, "I see it! So, that blue hedgehog's the Iblis Trigger?"

 _So that explains why Silver is trying to kill me!_ Sonic thought.

Blaze slowly turned her head towards Silver as soon as she heard this. "Blue hedgehog…?"

Silver returned the Chaos Emerald to the black hedgehog, who then summoned a ball of purple electricity and energy that slowly expanded. "I'll send us back in time to the point when the Iblis Trigger was alive." Engulfing the three, Silver and Blaze shivered and shut their eyes in response to the feeling of energy that surrounded them. As Sonic and his friends watched, the blue hedgehog noticed something strange. Right before Silver, Blaze and the black hedgehog disappeared, the latter of the three turned his head towards their direction.

 _Is he…smiling?_

Similar to Sonic's, it was the mischievous kind, but it was much more…dark, as if the Shadow lookalike was satisfied something dastardly had been accomplished.

And just like that, the three were gone.

Sonic, Tails and Knuckles emerged from their hiding spot outside the room and entered.

"What the…" Knuckles said. "Who was that guy? He looked just like Shadow!"

Sonic shrugged. "Beats me. I'm more curious about what happened to Blaze, to be honest."

"Th-this is terrible!" Tails exclaimed in fear. While Sonic and Knuckles were looking around the room, Tails had gone straight for the computer to investigate the files the black hedgehog pulled up.

"What's wrong?" Sonic asked.

"According to the data, the Princess died when she was kidnapped by Eggman! Apparently, Eggman's battleship exploded. The date of this incident was…just a few days after the Festival of the Sun!"

Sonic couldn't believe it. If he was still in the present, he could've been there to help her.

"If we don't return in time," Sonic finally said," Blaze will die onboard Eggman's battleship. And if the Flames of Disaster are what causes this future, that means…"

"Yeah," Tails nodded, nervously. "I think so."

"In any case," Knuckles interrupted. "That Shadow copycat had the Emerald we were tracking, right?"

Sonic and Tails looked at each other, the realization now hitting them. Knuckles was right. If that hedgehog took the Emerald with him, the three would now need to find another one! Tails took out the C.E.T. and began to search for another Chaos Emerald.

"There doesn't appear to be any left in the city," Tails said. "But if I widen the radius…Ah...Uh…"

"You got one?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah," Tails replied. "I did, but…" He hesitated for a moment.

"But?" Knuckles gestured for the fox to continued.

"It's near a volcano," Tails finished. "Maybe even inside it. Fortunately, it's near White Acropolis, so we don't have to change the rendezvous point."

The three were silent for a moment. Sonic then smirked. "Well, this is going to be fun."

Knuckles sighed. "Even when the world is in ruins, you find the idea of volcano spelunking to be _fun_?"

Sonic chuckled a little. "Life's no fun without a little danger. At any rate…" A frown formed on Sonic's face. "We need that Emerald to get back home. Let's head to the rendezvous point and tell Shadow and Rouge what we found."

Tails and Knuckles nodded in agreement, and the three left the room. After a few seconds, the supercomputer began to glitch.

" _ **Princess Dies Aboard Battleship of Mad Scientist."**_

" _ **Prin—los—Abo—War—Mad Sci—Hero-"**_

" _ **Princess Loses Life in War Against Eggman. Blue Hero Continues to Fight."**_


	7. Chapter 6 (Sonic)

**Chapter 6 (Sonic): Back to the Past**

The new castle of Soleanna was an impressive feat of architecture, from the stone blocks to the red carpet. Centered on an island off of the mainland, the castle stood tall displaying the symbol of Solaris on its frontmost wall.

To visitors, it was a sight to behold; for citizens, it was a reminder of the past.

After the failure of the Solaris Project, the original castle was abandoned and left as a memorial for those whose lives were lost. When a new castle was suggested to be built in its place, the citizens unanimously agreed for it to be built far from the original out of respect.

At the time, Blaze felt the decision was best for both her and her citizens, but if it were put up to a vote now, she would've rejected it immediately given her situation.

As soon as the boat she had ridden to the island docked at the pier, Blaze raced up the familiar stairway leading up to the castle. It was unusually quiet.

 _Where are all the guards?!_ Blaze wondered to herself.

Normally, there would be routine patrols around the castle grounds, but even at the docks there was an eerie absence of guards. Even the handmaidens and janitorial staff were nowhere to be seen.

Running through one of the outside corridors, Blaze soon found her answer.

A swarm of Egg Gunners revealed themselves from their hiding space above, dropping down and surrounding the cat princess. The last to drop down was a blue robot about her size, his red eyes designed to appear intimidating. Most contrasting from the rest of the robots, though was his hedgehog-shaped body.

"So-" Blaze started to say Sonic's name, only to stop midway.

 _This isn't him. This is…_ Metal _Sonic._

Metal Sonic stepped forward and tried to grab Blaze at the arm, only for her to knock his hand away. But just as she began to summon her powers…

"Finally. I've been waiting so patiently for you to return, Princess."

Turning to her left, Blaze saw Dr. Eggman on that flying hovercraft of his. He never failed to act in such a _caring_ way around her.

She wanted to blast him out of the air, yet logic kept her at bay.

 _Waiting? That means…_

"Where are my guards?" Blaze demanded. "My staff members!"

"Settle down, my dear!" Eggman raised his hands, chuckling. "They're fine…at the moment. But their lives depend on you."

Blaze raised an eyebrow at this, wanting him to continue.

"Right now," Eggman elaborated, "Your court members and guards are at the mercy of my death squad. One simple order, and they all die. But if you surrender back into my care, you have my promise that their lives will be spared." He paused, waiting for the reality of the situation to sink into Blaze's head.

Smirking, he added, "So, what will it be, your Highness? Will you be an obedient kitty cat?"

Blaze's temper was at its peaking point. Growling, she wanted to end the doctor right then and there. She wanted him to suffer like no one else had before.

Which is why with great regret, she closed her eyes and let the flames in her hands die.

She wanted him to suffer. But her people came first.

"You've made a wise decision, my dear," Eggman commented. Adjusting the aircraft's altitude to Blaze's level, he motioned for her to climb aboard. Upon doing so, Blaze reached her hands out towards Eggman.

"Huh?"

"Aren't you going to cuff me like before?"

"Hmph." Eggman rubbed his fat nose, annoyed. "I'm afraid I'm fresh out, considering you keep breaking them. Make no mistake, though. Do anything defiant and the hostages die. Are we clear?"

Blaze silently nodded her head.

"Good. Now then, we have a train to catch."

"What? A train?" Blaze became confused. Why would Eggman need a train? Couldn't he just fly them back to White Acropolis? Not that flying made the situation any better, but still.

Eggman explained. "If G.U.N. is one thing, they aren't stupid. Seeing as how I've deployed another garrison of Badniks into Soleanna to capture you _again_ , they'll be expecting me to fly over them. Hence, we need a more… _discrete_ way of getting back."

Blaze understood it perfectly. One of the numerous ways in which Soleanna got its supplies was via trains, and the train lines went through the mountains where Eggman's base was set up.

Eggman pressed a button on the control panel, and the aircraft began to ascend forward and up towards the skies. Metal Sonic and the other robots followed closely behind.

* * *

"You guys are _so_ slow."

"How about next time, _you_ take the Emerald furthest from the meetup point?" Knuckles retorted to Rouge's insult.

The three heroes had made their way through the ruined city of Soleanna back to the teleporter room. Upon teleporting back to White Acropolis, it was a simple task exiting Eggman's base and meeting up with Rouge and Shadow, who had already done their part and were standing by, waiting for them.

Unlike the present-day White Acropolis, the mountains no longer possessed the same fluffy snow that Sonic, Tails and Knuckles almost got buried in. Instead, the skies above were ashen and the trees were as lifeless as a cemetery.

Tails intervened. "Did you two find anything?"

Rouge smiled proudly at him, pulling out a glimmering green gem for the three heroes to see. "Look."

The three heroes perked up at the sight of the Chaos Emerald. "You found one!" Tails exclaimed.

"Well now, I may not look it, but I'm a _real_ treasure hunter." Seeing Knuckles turning away at this statement, Rouge added, "Unlike a certain echidna I know."

"What?!" Knuckles instantaneously turned around to face Rouge, who smiled waving the Emerald side-to-side. Everyone else stared at Knuckles, expecting him to lash out like an upset toddler. In the end, Knuckles simply huffed, crossed his arms and turned away.

 _Can't those two ever get along?_ Sonic wondered.

Shadow then spoke. "Have you guys discovered anything?"

Tails answered him. "Um, yeah. We found a Chaos Emerald, but…we kind of lost it."

Rouge stared at him with disbelief. "Really? You _lost_ a Chaos Emerald?"

"It's a long story. But I know where to find another one. I received a signal indicating there's a Chaos Emerald here, but…well…" Tails pointed to the large volcano in the distance. At the moment, the volcano showcased streams of lava flowing down its sides; the top itself spewed out showers of molten rock, adding smoke to the already dark skies.

Rouge's jaw dropped. "You mean we've got to go through there?"

"If you don't like it," Knuckles said, satisfied at the opportunity to deliver an acidic jab back at Rouge, "You can stay here."

"You've _got_ to be kidding!"

Shadow, undeterred, unfolded his arms and began walking down the path towards the volcano. "Let's go."

Sonic followed, and Tails trailed behind him. Knuckles grinned one final time at Rouge before joining up with the other three. Rouge, knowing there was no other way, sighed and moved quickly to catch up.

As they walked down the grey path, Sonic thought back to what he had seen in that secluded room in the city. It was evident that Silver was, in a way, like Shadow—he was determined and dangerous, but at the same time a good person. All he wants to do is save the future, right? So, when he returns to the past, Sonic thought he could reason with him and try to help him out.

Sonic would never have wanted this to happen to the world, nor did he think he could. But if that other hedgehog's claim about him being the 'Iblis Trigger' was right, there might be a way to fix that.

Speaking of which…

"Hey Shadow." Sonic addressed the black hedgehog, who was silently walking ahead of him. He turned his head to face Sonic. "What is it?"

"We didn't exactly lose the Emerald."

"I figured as much."

"Heh," Sonic chuckled. "I'm sure. Anyway, we found where the Chaos Emerald was, but it was in someone else's possession. We didn't reveal ourselves, but we watched as he and two other people disappeared into the past with the Emerald."

"…Is that so?"

Sonic noticed Shadow's delay in his answer. At first, Sonic thought it was due to annoyance at how Sonic let an opportunity to go back in time slip through their fingers, but upon closer examination, he saw Shadow was thinking about something.

"Y-yeah. But the thing is, he looked exactly like you."

"…!"

Shadow stopped walking, prompting Sonic and the others to stop as well. Seeing Shadow's expression with concern, Sonic asked, "You know him?"

Shadow turned to face Sonic, nodding his head with seriousness. Not the typical 'Shadow doesn't tolerate any nonsense' seriousness, but more of a 'This isn't a good thing' seriousness.

"Mephiles."

"Huh?"

"His name," Shadow stated, "Is Mephiles. He's the reason Rouge and I are here in the first place."

"What?" Tails finally said. "Why would he do that?"

Shadow shook his head. "I'm not exactly sure, but I do know this: he is able to move through time without the use of a Chaos Emerald."

Now Sonic, Tails and Knuckles were at a loss for words. The volcano in the distance was still far away, but the group was close enough now to hear the eruptions coming from it.

"How is that possible?" Knuckles asked Shadow.

"I'm don't know. It's possible that, like me, he can use some Chaos energy."

The three heroes fell silent again. Someone potentially as strong as Shadow exists? It wasn't an impossibility; the Ultimate Lifeform Prototype, while large compared to the final product that was Shadow, was one example. Mephiles could very well have been another case.

Given the state of the future, it wouldn't be much of a shock if the world made another Ultimate Lifeform. But why did Mephiles bring Shadow and Rouge here?

"Hey guys!" Rouge shouted. While the three and Shadow were talking, Rouge had walked a little ahead to examine the path in front of them, only to stop a short distance away. "We've got a problem. The path splits in two. From the looks of it, both lead into the volcano." Eyeing Tails, Rouge asked, "Which way do we go?"

Tails pulled out the C.E.T. Though he tried adjusting the settings, the radar was going on the fritz. "I can't get a lock due to the weather!" He tried walking to where Rouge was to see if that may help, but the signal only grew worse. "Looks like we'll have to split up again."

Knuckles grumbled as he walked towards them. "Great."

As he, Tails and Rouge decided on which path to take, Sonic and Shadow watched wordlessly. When the three had decided that Team Sonic would take the left path while Team Dark the right, Shadow addressed Sonic without turning to him. "Sonic."

"Eh? What's up?"

"If you run into Mephiles in the past, don't underestimate him." Shadow then walked forward to rejoin Rouge and the others.

Sonic stood still for a moment. _Don't underestimate him? If Shadow's saying it, I'd better take his word for it._

Sonic then returned to the group to hear the whole plan.

"Alright then!" Tails said. "Whoever finds the Emerald will call in so the rest of us can meet up."

Everyone nodded in approval.

Sonic waged his finger at Shadow, teasingly. "Don't be late!"

Shadow walked past Sonic, indifferent to his challenge. "Same to you."

Facing their chosen roads, the two teams departed from each other once more.

* * *

"Hweugh!" Sonic kicked a fiery monster in the face, knocking it down to dissolve as he raced past it with Tails and Knuckles in tow.

The swerving road of black rock was as hard as diamond, but nothing Sonic's feet couldn't handle when it came to running. The blue hedgehog rushed forward up a cliff, jumping off of it down to the nearest area that continued the way to the volcano.

And speaking of which…

"Phew! What a view!" Sonic commented on the sight of the erupting mountain as he fell. No matter where he went, there was always something he enjoyed.

Landing on the ground below, Sonic immediately dashed forward. The area began to glow more as the three started to race past rivers of lava. Pillars of the orange liquid rose and fell randomly.

 _Gotta be careful not to fall off here,_ Sonic warned himself.

Ascending upwards, the three heroes found a group of the flame monsters waiting for them; among the familiar lizard beasts was a golem of brown rock, yet it, too was made from the lava. Summoning a red sphere of molten rock and flame, the golem threw it towards Sonic and his friends.

The heroes dodged the attack as it burst upon impact with the ground. As Tails landed a few feet away, the ground below him glowed bright orange.

"Whoa!" Tails quickly rolled to the side as a column of fire vented from the ground. The same phenomenon occurred in other spots as well.

"Lava shoots up from the ground, too? Alright!" Sonic said with enthusiasm, though not without concern for Tails.

"Sonic!" Knuckles pointed at the golem, which was preparing to attack again as the lizards went after Tails. Knowing full well that Tails could take on the lizards with his own skills, Knuckles turned back to Sonic and clapped his hands together, taking a defensive-looking stance.

Sonic understood what Knuckles was thinking, and nodded in agreement. He then commenced a spin dash towards Knuckles who, using his body, was able to redirect Sonic and throw him towards the golem with greater velocity.

Unable to protect itself without letting go of the sphere in its hand, the golem could only watch as Sonic sliced through its core and land behind him. The new red sphere that the golem had created fell off its lifted hand as the golem toppled over onto its back, disappearing into nothingness.

Sonic stood up, turned and gave Knuckles a thumbs up; the red echidna nodded, then turned to Tails who was just finishing off the last of the monsters. The fox boy then rejoined the two.

"Piece of cake," Sonic said coolly.

"Let's just hope the next ones are just as easy," Knuckles responded, and the three of them continued moving on.

In front of them was another stream of lava, but it was carrying large platforms as it flowed downwards. Undeterred, Sonic began hopping from platform to platform as Tails and Knuckles flew above. Upon reaching the end of the river, where the only way forward was up a lavafall, Tails grabbed Sonic's arms and ascended. Knuckles, only able to glide, grabbed on to a wall not covered in lava and began climbing up.

At the summit, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles observed the path ahead of them. They were much closer to the volcano now, which had increased the amount of rocks flying out of its crater; said rocks were also impacting the road ahead.

"Cool, it's raining fire!" Sonic exclaimed.

Tails put a hand to his head. "I hate it when he gets like this."

Tails admired many things about Sonic, one of which was his bravery. However, that same bravado mixes poorly with his desire for action and adventure, resulting in Sonic being too cocky about situations such as these.

Sonic turned to address Tails and Knuckles, not having heard what Tails said. "You ready? Let's head into the volcano!" He then equipped the light blue gem, which transformed his shoes into the same color.

Knuckles raised an eyebrow at Sonic, having no idea what just happened nor what his friend was planning. Tails, on the other hand, knew right on the spot.

Sonic grinned and, holding out his hand, summoned a round gem of the same cyan color. He then rolled in place, accelerating his spin until he stopped and hurled the stone in the direction of the volcano as far away from him as possible.

"Knuckles!" Tails cried as he suddenly gripped Sonic's left arm. "Grab on to Sonic and don't let go!"

"Ok," Knuckles said, clutching Sonic's other arm tight, "But I don't see how this will…Aaghh!"

Instantaneously, the three heroes shot forward up into the air with the same trajectory as the stone Sonic launched.

The cyan stone, when equipped, allows for quick travel from one place to another; this is done through a summonable stone that can be thrown to where the user wishes to go. However, the stone does have a limit with regards to travel: if the thrown stone does not hit the ground or any object within a specific time frame, the stone will disappear and the user will fly towards the stone's last position.

Such was the case with Sonic and co.

"Whoaaa!"

"Whaaahh!"

"Aaghh"

Team Sonic screamed as they raced through the air like a rocket, only to stop on top of the side of the volcano.

Directly above a vent spewing lava.

"Tails!" Sonic screamed.

"On it!" The fox boy grabbed ahold of Knuckles and Sonic tightly and flew them over the vent.

Tails had built up a great deal of strength over the years, given his adventures with the blue blur. Among the perks of this increased strength was the ability to carry heavy things while flying, though it still wore him down after a period of time.

Which is why it should come as no surprise that lifting two people wore him out twice as fast.

Tails began to lose altitude fast, but was able to direct themselves to a vent that wasn't currently spilling molten rock at the moment.

The trio fell into the vent and slid down the channel. Emerging on the other end, they were fortunate to find a pathway awaiting below them.

They crashed into the floor with a _thud!_ with each hero landing on top of each other. As they struggled to get up, a familiar voice echoed off the walls.

"Hi. Dropping in?"

Knuckles, who was unfortunately on the bottom of the three, looked up and grumbled upon seeing Rouge smiling down on them. Shadow was right next to her.

Sonic, who was in the middle of the pile, glanced at Shadow sheepishly. "Were we late?"

Shadow, in a rare break from his usual stoic demeanor, smiled amused, though it came and went quickly. He then assisted Rouge in getting the three up.

"Sonic," Knuckles said, dusting himself off, "We are _not_ doing that again."

* * *

"I can feel the Emerald," Shadow stated. "We're very close."

Walking into the next room, the two teams found a large cavern engulfed in a sea of lava below them. Above them, though, were stalagmites and…

The cyan Chaos Emerald.

Rouge, instinctively drawn to the Emerald, flapped her wings and flew towards it. Reaching out, she proudly declared, "I found a Chaos Emerald!"

"DON'T TOUCH IT!" Shadow screamed.

Rouge hesitated for a moment, but managed to react in time to dodge a sudden burst of lava that shot up from the sea. The Emerald disappeared into the flames and, emerging from the sea was a large worm-shaped creature of fire and molten rock. Horns protruded from its head, and its eyes were a nasty green with diamond pupils. It roared in anger.

Rouge landed back on the ground as Shadow and Sonic took a defensive stance. "What? What's this?" Rouge asked, but no one could offer her an answer.

Sonic had a good guess, however.

Unlike the creatures from before, this one felt different. Almost as if it was smarter, let alone more dangerous. Plus, it took residence inside a volcano of all places while the other fire monsters roamed all over the place. Taking all this into account, there was one logical answer.

The Flames of Disaster incarnate.

 _So,_ Sonic thought. _You're Iblis, huh?_

The creature roared again, then retreated into the sea only to rise up in the middle of the cavern.

Sonic grinned, turning his head to address the group. "Leave this to me!" Everyone nodded and stepped back towards the entrance to the cavern.

Except for Shadow.

Using the Chaos Emerald in his possession, Shadow called upon the energy of the Emerald and swiped his free hand sideways at the stalagmites above. The energy hit the rock formations, bursts of energy radiating afterwards. The stalagmites fell from the ceiling and dropped into the lava below, the liquid splashing onto the tops.

"We'll take care of this guy together," Shadow declared.

Sonic didn't bother putting up an argument. When Shadow wanted something, he'd get it one way or another. Since he was willing to help Sonic fight Iblis, it was all the more reason not to deny his assistance.

Sonic nodded and jumped down onto one of the new platforms that Shadow had created; the black hedgehog followed suite.

"Ok, let's party!"

Iblis roared and from his mouth spewed a series of molten rocks. Sonic and Shadow jumped across to the neighboring stalagmites to avoid the rocks as they struck the tops, causing the platform to shake in the lava.

The two hedgehogs then proceeded with getting closer to Iblis, but they soon found themselves out of platforms to jump across.

"Shadow?" Sonic wanted to see if Shadow could provide more platforms to jump across, but was disappointed when Shadow shook his head.

Iblis emitted what sounded like a groan and dived straight into the lava.

"Huh? Where's he going?" Sonic wondered aloud.

As if on cue, Iblis shot up from the orange sea, flew through the air and aimed to crash into the platform Shadow and Sonic were on.

"Move!" Shadow yelled.

The two jumped out of the way in time as Iblis landed face first into the platform; the force of the impact made the rocky foothold break apart into large chunks that flew in the air until they either hit the walls or fell into the sea to sink.

As Iblis lifted his horned head up, Sonic and Shadow both noticed it immediately.

Above what appeared to be a third eye was the Chaos Emerald that had disappeared only a minute ago.

Wasting no time, Sonic raced forward and performed a homing attack on the Emerald to knock it free, only to end up missing due to Iblis moving slightly and hitting the eye instead.

 _Darn, I missed!_

Iblis cried in pain, jumping back up into the air towards the spot it had been when the fight began.

"Hey, what's wrong? Is that size just for show?" Sonic mocked the giant beast for its cowardice, hoping Iblis would come back so that he could try to kill them again. Chances were, though, Iblis would come back of his own volition. It wasn't like he could understand Sonic, right?

Regardless of Iblis' intelligence, the fire demon began to swim towards them. While he was still trying to kill both hedgehogs, it now seemed his primary target was Sonic.

"Sonic! It's coming!" Tails warned from behind. Sonic turned in the direction of Tails' voice and began running across the platforms; Shadow paralleled this motion, though a little distance away.

Iblis, without signs of stopping, rammed through the stalagmites as if they were cannon fodder, closing the distance between him and Sonic. But just as he was about to go in for the kill…

"Hwagh!"

" _Roar!"_

Over the side of his shoulder, Sonic saw that Shadow had struck Iblis in the head with a strong kick; the power and area of impact managed to knock the Chaos Emerald right off of the beast's head, sending it flying. Sonic readjusted his heading in pursuit of the Emerald so as to not let it fall into the lava below.

 _No, no, no!_ Sonic repeated in his head. The cyan Emerald made impact with one of the platforms and bounced towards the edge.

Only to stop before going over it due to a hand grabbing ahold of it.

"Phew! That was close," Sonic said. He was now on his side with his right arm extended, having leaped forward to stop the Emerald from bouncing into the orange sea. Getting up, he looked back to see Shadow delivering a series of blows to Iblis' center eye in rapid succession. The final blow was an upward kick that sent Iblis' head back. The beast cried in pain, and retreated back to the other side of the cavern, sinking into the lava.

"Hmph!" Shadow looked away from the spot Iblis disappeared to check on Sonic's state. The blue hedgehog waved the Emerald in his hand, indicating that he got it. Shadow nodded, and the two returned to their friends' side.

* * *

For a moment, the group waited to see if Iblis would pull a surprise counterattack after Shadow's multiple blows. He never did.

Standing across from each other, Sonic and Shadow pulled out their respective Chaos Emeralds and stared at them in silence. They had done it. In a future riddled with destruction and monsters of fire, five individuals managed to survive and secure a way back to the past.

To be fair, such a situation wasn't out of the ordinary for them.

With no more reason to stay, Sonic and Shadow nodded at each other and lifted the Chaos Emeralds up, shouting "Chaos Control!" in unison.

The Emeralds sparkled instantly with a harmonious sound resonating. Following this, a white spiral rose from the Emeralds and formed a blue portal.

No one said a word upon seeing this. Nothing needed to be said. All that was left to do was walk through and leave.

Sonic was the first to jump through, eager to return to save Blaze and stop Eggman and this horrible future from happening. Tails jumped in next, and Knuckles right after.

Rouge hovered towards the portal, looking back at Shadow as she went through. Shadow walked towards the portal, but stopped and looked back at an unusual sight.

Shortly afterwards, the portal closed.


	8. Chapter 7 (Sonic)

**Chapter 7 (Sonic): A Train to Catch**

As the day began to transition into the afternoon, the Soleanna New Town began to bustle with the lunch rush.

Now that the robots in the New Town were disposed of and the area deemed safe by GUN and the guards, people began to flock back into the metropolitan area in droves. Citizens and visitors were lining up outside restaurants and markets to acquire some of the commodities that the city of water had to offer, particularly its signature apple dishes.

In the main square, directly in front of a building with a clock on the wall, a blue portal appeared a few yards above the ground, and emerging from the portal were three more pedestrians, one of which landed on his butt.

"Ow!" Tails moaned as he slowly got to his feet. While he unfortunately failed to nail the landing, Sonic and Knuckles ended up luckier. As the three rose to their feet, none of them said a word as they observed the environment around them.

Blue skies with a few clouds rolling in. Buildings standing tall and unbroken. And no monsters.

Knuckles sighed in relief. "Looks like we made it back in one piece."

Sonic nodded, his face sharing the sentiment. Shadow's idea had worked: the portal sent them back to present-day Soleanna.

And yet…

"Where did Shadow and Rouge go?" Tails asked after looking around. Though the three of them had made it back together, there was no sign of their fellow allies anywhere to be seen. "Did they appear someplace else?"

Sonic contemplated this for a moment. Since they were the first ones to jump through the portal, the three of them couldn't verify for sure that Shadow and Rouge jumped in right after them. Of course, those two didn't end up in the future by choice either, so it was highly likely that they went through the portal.

In the event that they didn't choose to jump through the portal though (for whatever reason), Sonic possessed one of the Chaos Emeralds used in the ritual, so Shadow and Rouge couldn't make another portal unless they found another Emerald. Either that, or…

"…"

Sonic started to recall something Shadow said earlier, about the hedgehog that looked like him.

Mephiles.

He was the reason Shadow and Rouge were in the future. Could it be that maybe they stayed to look for him? He had time travel powers, so it wasn't out of the question that he could get them back. Then again, Shadow warned Sonic about Mephiles, therefore the chances of Mephiles returning Shadow and Rouge to the past weren't very high either.

No, Rouge and Shadow must've gone through the portal. It was the most probable likelihood.

"I'm sure they're alright, Tails," Sonic responded. "Besides, those two can take care of themselves." As Sonic said this, he noticed a man crumble a newspaper and throw it in an overfilled trashcan, which rolled off the top and fell to the ground; the man didn't seem to mind as he kept walking.

Sonic walked over to the newspaper and picked it up, inspecting the fine print:

" _Festival in Flames! Blue Hedgehog in Pursuit!"_

 _Indeed_ , Sonic thought to himself. Now that he was back in the present day, it was back to the matter at hand. Sonic looked at Tails and Knuckles briefly, and three exchanged nods with each other.

"Let's go!" Sonic stated, and began walking in the direction of Eggman's teleporter room.

"SONIC!"

"Huh…whaa!" Looking quickly side to side, Sonic began to panic at the sound of that familiar, high-pitched voice until he was suddenly caught in the arms of an old friend.

Of course, this old friend was more nerve-racking to Sonic than any of Dr. Eggman's sinister machines.

"Amy!" Sonic tried to break free of Amy's hold on him, but Amy tightened her grip. She giggled with enthusiasm.

"There's no running away this time, my darling Sonic! Besides, you owe me a date."

"Huh? Since when?"

Amy finally let go of Sonic, giving the hero a moment to recover from Amy's embrace; as he did so, Amy responded, "For rescuing you earlier. Remember?"

In fact, Sonic remembered all too well. Silver was about to deliver the finishing blow, but Amy stepped in between them to save Sonic's life.

Come to think of it, it sounded like Silver knew Amy, too.

"Hey Amy," Sonic said. "How do you know Silver?"

Amy was a bit surprised by this question, then lowered her gaze sheepishly. "Well, that's a funny story. I ran into him, mistaking him for you, but I ended up causing him to lose focus on something he was doing."

"Oh? And what was that?"

"He said he was looking for someone, so I proposed we look for you and that guy together." Amy's expression grew more regretful. "I didn't know, though, why he was looking for that person. And I didn't know it was you, Sonic. I'm sorry!"

Amy bowed her head upon finishing her tale. Sonic scratched the back of his head, looking away out of embarrassment.

 _No need to be so apologetic, Amy._ _Still, for her to have met Silver, of all people and tried helping him find me so he could kill me…_

Sonic turned back to Amy with a playful smile. "In that case, we're even."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You saved me from Silver when he tried to kill me, but you also led Silver to me to do just that. So, I don't owe you a thing!" He crossed his arms, a look of pride covering his face. It made sense, of course. Why does he have to go out with Amy for her solving a problem she helped create?

"WHAT!?" Amy's scream ripped through the air like shattered glass, forcing Sonic's pride to immediately decay into anxiety. The scream even made a few passersby to stare in their direction, though they then quickly moved along to avoid the girl who, for a moment, looked like a demon in disguise.

Sonic tried to defend his position again. "Well, if you helped Silver try to kill me…"

"I did _not_ help him in that way. It was an accident!"

"A-accident or not…"

As Sonic and Amy bickered over, Tails and Knuckles watched with grief. "He's never going to win against her, is he?" Tails asked rhetorically.

"Nope." Knuckles turned away, unable to bear the two 'lovebirds' in front of him. He then noticed something down the street coming towards their position, followed by shrieks and warnings from pedestrians near it. It was wobbling low in the air with sunlight shining off of it. Upon closer examination, Knuckles realized what it was.

Tails, having seen Sonic and Amy bicker long enough, turned to Knuckles only to be surprised at the echidna enclosing his hand into a fist and extending his arm back. Following his line of sight, Tails gasped at what was coming.

"Hwegh!"

 _Clunk!_

Knuckles punched straight down on the object, which happened to be an already-damaged Egg Flyer. The robot became crushed by the force of the fist and the hard cement below it, and it moved no more. The commotion was enough to break Sonic and Amy out of their debate.

Amy frowned. "Guess I missed one."

"You _missed_ one?"

"Yeah. Before I found you here, I was fighting off a group of Eggman's robots that were chasing after the princess. Seriously, Eggman can be a pain some-"

"You saw Blaze?!" Sonic wasted no time interrupting Amy as soon as she mentioned Blaze. It caught even Amy by surprise.

"W-well, yeah. Actually, I kind of broke her out of Eggman's base. When his robots followed, I told her to run to the castle. I mean, it made sense to h-"

Before she could finish, Sonic turned in the direction of Soleanna's Castle Town and ran off, much to Amy's infuriation.

"Sonic!" Her yelling was to no avail, as Sonic was already gone.

Tails turned to chase after Sonic, but not before exchanging a farewell. "Uh, it was nice seeing you again, Amy!"

"Not really," Knuckles chimed in before following Tails.

As the two ran off after Sonic, Amy stomped her foot down hard. _We finally reunite after I saved his life, and he just takes off. Again!_

Standing alone in the middle of the square, Amy tried to make sense of Sonic's actions. "I get that he's trying to stop Eggman, and saving Blaze is important…too."

Saving Blaze. It was slowly starting to dawn on her.

" _Someone might already be on their way to rescue you!"_

" _Someone…someone was, but…"_

"Is Sonic the one Blaze was talking about?"

Amy could feel her face turning red with anger and jealousy. She had gone out of her way to help that cat, and she was trying to steal Sonic?! It was a crime, an outrage!

"WHO DOES SHE THINK SHE IS?!"

" _I only met him a few days ago. No one falls in love that fast."_

The pent-up rage evaporated as quickly as it came when Amy remembered Blaze's comment. In a few seconds, Amy was back to her normal state of mind.

"That's right," she chuckled to herself. "Blaze told me she wasn't in love with him. To think I'd have to challenge a princess for Sonic's hand in marriage!" It didn't matter to Amy whether Blaze was a princess or even a friend. Anyone that stood in the way of her destiny was going to feel her wrath.

Amy smiled in the direction Sonic took off in. "Save her, Sonic, so that when this is all over, we'll have that date you owe me!"

 _He does owe me for saving Blaze, after all!_

* * *

The guards and servants of the Soleanna New Castle were gathered in the common throne room, a long, yet simple chamber with stained glass windows near the throne and unlit torches on the walls. In the daytime, the windows radiated an assortment of colors that brightened the rather gray room and the large red carpet on its floor.

But the castle's staff were not there for their duties to the princess. Instead, they were being held captive at the mercy of Dr. Eggman's machines which, at any moment could set them free or end their very lives. Most were flying drones, but the most imposing of the robots was a large tan and white machine with hands so big, they could crush cars.

The guards were easily outmatched by the automatons and were forced to relinquish their weapons upon Eggman's orders. With no way to contact for help nor fight back, the guards could do nothing but wait with the other castle's laborers for their liberation. If it ever came.

Just then, the throne room's main doors swung open in a heartbeat; emerging from the other side was a blue hedgehog in red-and-white striped shoes. His presence caused the robots to change their focus to him, the flying drones flying towards him firing their mini machine guns.

"PRIORITY ONE HEDGEHOG!"

Sonic jumped out of the way in a flash, and then proceeded to counterattack. "This is starting to get old!" Spamming a string of homing attacks, he knocked each of the drones to the ground in disrepair.

Landing in front of the remaining machine, the bulky Egg Guardian, Sonic asked, "Are you any different?" The Egg Guardian responded by aiming his hands at Sonic and launching them.

"PRIORITY ONE HEDGEHOG!"

Sonic evaded the hands and knocked the iron giant onto its back with a swift axle kick. From the center of its body, the Egg Guardian's core emerged to cool off, leaving Sonic with the opportunity to bounce straight down on top of it. The sudden pressure ripped the joints of the Egg Guardian apart and breaking its power conduits. In a few seconds, it moved no more.

"Guess not," Sonic sighed. He looked at the castle staff with a reassuring smile. "You guys alright?"

One guard slowly got to his knees and approached on behalf of the hostages. "Yes, thanks to you. We are in your debt." He bowed his head with respect.

Sonic chuckled. "Don't sweat it, but you can pay me back right now. Where is Blaze?"

The guard answered regretfully, "We haven't seen her. Eggman was holding us captive and prepared an ambush for her. We don't know if he captured her."

 _Bumf!_

Sonic slammed his fist into his hand. Eggman beat him to her! And worse, he didn't have any clues as to their whereabouts again.

The guard noticed Sonic's frustration and held his head low. "I'm sorry. We're supposed to protect and serve the Princess, but we've failed."

Sonic snapped out of his thoughts and glanced at the guard. He grinned. "It's not your fault this happened. I'll still find a way to save her."

Hearing Sonic's reassurance, the guard let out a small smile and turned towards the other staff members, giving orders to the guards to run sweeps of the whole castle.

"Looks like we missed the action."

Sonic turned in the direction of the entrance doors to see Knuckles and Tails walking up towards him. Tails glanced at the staff members for a moment, then returned his gaze to Sonic. "Did you learn anything?"

"Eggman beat us to the punch. He laid a trap for Blaze and she fell right into it. He used the castle staff as hostages."

"Just like Cream and Cheese." Tails recalled the other day how Eggman used the same tactic to coerce Blaze into obeying his wishes. "It looks like they aren't here, though, so that's good."

Indeed. Out of all the staff members present, neither Cream nor Cheese were among their number. Most likely, they were running errands in the city or visiting Vanilla the Rabbit.

Sonic nodded and began to walk towards the entrance. "We need to pick up a trail."

"Hm. I could check in with GUN again. They might have some information about Eggman's last known location."

"Good idea." Sonic turned to Knuckles, who stood cross-armed looking at the two of them. "What about you, Knuckles? You heading back to Angel Island?"

"I'll stick with Tails for now. I'll head back _after_ we stop Eggman for good. Besides, I feel as though I should let him know what I thought of our little _vacation_."

Sonic chuckled. _You and me both._

"What are you going to do, Sonic?" Tails asked.

"I'll ask around town. Maybe someone saw what direction Eggman was heading in."

When the three agreed on their duties, Sonic separated from the two and raced off towards the town.

"Let's see where you're going, Egghead."

* * *

"Mmgh!"

Sonic couldn't help but moan to himself. For the past hour, he went around town asking everybody he came across for clues on Eggman's whereabouts, but to no avail. In addition, he took time to help find a dog named Pele for a crying boy, and he was pulled over by a group of six kids challenging him to a game of hide and seek, all because they thought he wasn't capable of saving Blaze.

Now, he found himself back in the New Town, contemplating on what to do. Tails had yet to respond on GUN's intel, which could very well be that they don't know where Eggman is. And since the citizens don't know anything, there were no leads overall.

 _This is taking too long,_ Sonic thought.

"THERE HE IS! IT'S SONIC!"

"HE'S EVEN MORE HANDSOME IN PERSON!"

"Hm?" Sonic turned his head to find the source of the females' voices. Near the docks were a group of boys and girls that were, surprisingly, not looking at him. Instead, in the middle of the crowd was a young tanned man with goggles and a hat that resembled Sonic's spiky hair.

The man grinned at the girls. "Sorry, ladies. You're both pretty, but a guy like me loves adventure more!"

Sonic stood dumbstruck at the sight. _Is that guy…mimicking me?_ He was used to having plenty of fans, many of whom aspired to be like him. But downright copying him? That crosses a line.

As such, Sonic walked over to set the record straight. "Yo!"

The pretender heard Sonic's cry and turned to face him. "Did you call me?"

"Yeah. Who are you?"

The man looked down at Sonic. A cocky smile started to form on his face. "Ah, you want to know who I am, do you? I saved Princess Blaze, and I fight bad guys." As he said this, he performed a series of stretches and gestures with each highlight, much to Sonic's annoyance. He finished by proudly lying, "I'm the superhero, Sonic Man! (Man, I'm cool!)"

The crowd cheered at Sonic Man's introduction, singing praises of him like canaries. Sonic cocked an eyebrow. _Is this guy for real?_

The man analyzed Sonic for a moment, then asked, "So, why are you dressed like me?"

"Dressed like you?!"

"Oh, I get it! You look up to me, don't you? Ha ha!"

Sonic clenched his hands into fists. He was able to maintain his temper right up until...

"Here. I will give you my autograph!"

 _That's it!_ "I don't want your autograph!" Sonic snapped.

The crowd fell deadly silent at Sonic's statement; even Sonic Man was taken aback. "Y-you don't?"

"No! I'm the _real_ Sonic, faker!"

A slight wind filled the empty air, followed by laughter from the crowd.

Sonic Man tried to control his chuckling. "You're the real Sonic? Sure, kid, sure. But just for you, I'll prove to you I'm the real thing!"

Though Sonic's frustration was still evident, a small portion was replaced by curiosity. "Prove it how?"

"Let's race!"

Sonic's anger vanished in a heartbeat. One of his favorite things to do was run, and here a man was challenging him to a race. He couldn't stop himself from smiling. With his unfortunate luck with getting information on Dr. Eggman, a race was just what he needed to clear his head.

Especially when his opponent was an overly obsessed fanboy.

"The one who reaches the station first wins," Sonic Man explained. "You have to touch the wall of the warehouse first, though. Okay?"

Sonic nodded, and the two took a starting stance. Behind them, the fans began to whisper in excitement.

"The new guy is stupid for challenging Sonic Man!"

"I don't know. There's something different about that guy. His quills look so…real"

Sonic Man began the countdown. "On your mark!"

"Get set!"

"GO!"

Sonic Man dashed off into first, leaving his fans and opponent behind in the dust. With his arms held behind him, he ran lurched forward towards the warehouse wall.

But his opponent wasn't catching up to him. In fact, he hadn't even left the starting line.

Sonic watched with amusement Sonic Man's top running speed. "This is too easy!" Just as he was about to start, though, he heard a buzzing noise coming from his communicator-it was one of Tail's ideas when it came to getting in contact with each other no matter where Sonic was in the world, so he always carried it in case Tails called.

Pulling it out, he answered the call.

" _ **Sonic! It's Tails. Get to the train station quickly!**_ "

"What's wrong?"

" _ **GUN found that Eggman hijacked a train! He just passed through the town minutes ago!**_ "

Sonic's held his breath for a moment when he heard the news. _This is it…and what a coincidence, too! I can finish this race and chase after Eggman now!_

"Thanks, Tails! Leave it to me!" Putting away his communicator, Sonic looked ahead at Sonic Man's status. He was getting close to the warehouse wall.

"Let's do it!"

Sonic Man was a few feet from the wall when he felt a hurricane-like wind blow right past him. He shut his eyes and slowed down to a halt, pushing against the force. When he opened his eyes again, he couldn't believe the sight before him. His opponent, the _real_ Sonic, slapped the wall, turned to him saying, "Sorry! Gotta run!" and then sped off towards the train station, leaving Sonic Man shocked.

"Was he really the real Sonic?!" Sonic Man's façade disappeared, being replaced with excitement as he chased after him. "Wait! Can I have your autograph! I can't believe I've met the real Sonic! It's such an honor! I want to be just like you!"

His words, whether he cared or not, were not heard by the out-of-range hedgehog.

* * *

 **WAAANK!**

Sonic increased his running speed as soon as he heard the horn. Racing across the train tracks led him to a mountainous canyon area, home to an abandoned mine that now appeared to be a terminal station for Soleanna's locomotive system. Multiple trains could be seen riding along a variety of tracks. However, only one was of importance to Sonic.

He just had to keep following the tracks.

 _Hang on Blaze. I'm almost there._

* * *

Eggman relaxed in his chair as he observed the monitor in front of him. Seated in the front car of a silver-blue bullet train, he couldn't help but marvel at his own ingenuity. Years of being a wanted man had certainly paid off, for with his IQ of 300 and sharp senses he was able to elude capture from the authorities on multiple occasions via misdirection and, in this particular case, threats. Having scared the passengers and conductor off, he was able to secure this train and discretely pass through Soleanna before the authorities knew what hit them.

 _The fools,_ he thought.

And with the Princess back in his clutches, he can make it back to White Acropolis and continue with his plans.

Soon, the whole world would be his, and there would be no one to stop him.

A beeping from the control console forced Eggman to set aside his thoughts. He answered by pressing a button.

"What is it, Metal?"

Metal Sonic did not reply with sounds but, instead sent Eggman video footage on the monitor before him of one of the train tracks. Running across the tracks was a blue…

"WHAT?! IT CAN'T BE!"

It was Sonic! He was back? How?

Then again, why is this such a shock? Eggman could remember numerous times Sonic had evaded death from his own hands, especially one where he jettisoned the blue pest into space in a rigged space capsule with a fake Chaos Emerald.

The memory was enough to elicit a groan from Eggman. "Persistent indeed."

It did not matter how Sonic came back. In the event that the authorities—in this case, Sonic—tried to stop him, Dr. Eggman made his own insurance plan for getting back to White Acropolis.

"Metal, initiate plan B. I'll make sure Sonic is made aware that his plans are about to change! Once I signal that we're in the clear, continue your mission."

* * *

"There it is!"

Sonic could finally see the bullet train Eggman hijacked a couple yards in front of him.

"Just got to get closer…"

"AHHHH!"

A woman's scream came from a train ahead on a track below Sonic. On top of the train were a legion of Egg Gunners, most of whom were shooting through the roofs of the cars. Among them was that blue duplicate of his.

"Metal!"

As he noticed Metal Sonic joining the horde of machines, one Egg Flyer popped out of the train car in front of him. From it came the sound of his nemesis:

" _Sonic, shouldn't you save the train before chasing after me?"_

Eggman acted so arrogant that Sonic kicked the Egg Flyer into the cliffside—granted he was going to do so from the beginning. Still, Eggman had a point. He couldn't leave those people to their fate.

Sonic jumped down onto the tracks below and chased after the train under attack.

 _I've got to get ahead and help the train!_

Picking up the pace, he managed to get close enough to climb aboard the back trolley. As he ascended the ladder, one of the passengers took note of him and shouted "Help! Sonic, help!" Though not her intention, the girl's cries were heard by the robots and, following their origin saw Sonic on the last car. They began to shoot at him. Sonic avoided their fire and raced forward to close the gap. He then proceeded to homing attack each Egg Gunner, sending them all flying off the train.

"Enjoy your trip!" Sonic shouted as he waved them goodbye. He then turned to face the only robot left, who stared him down with deadly intent.

Sonic took a fighting stance. "Round 2?"

Metal responded by rushing forward to attack, only to meet Sonic halfway as his opponent did the exact same. The two became locked in a struggle, each running and pushing against the other.

Sonic chuckled. "Heh. _Strange_ , isn't it?"

Metal, whose hands were intertwined in Sonic's, tightened his grip and stopped his advance; pulling back with his and Sonic's own force in the same direction, Metal Sonic kicked his organic doppelganger over him.

Sonic landed hard on the train's roof but reacted fast enough to roll into a crouching position as Metal attempted to slice his check with his sharp fingers. He then spin dashed into Metal, sending the robot flying back towards the end of the train. With his opponent in an open state, Sonic rushed forward hoping to finish the fight, but stopped after he briefly glanced back to see the train was approaching a tunnel.

 _Gotta move!_

Leaping down in-between two cars, Sonic watched as the world turned black with orange lights on the ceiling. Remembering Metal Sonic was still on the roof of the train when he jumped down to safety, Sonic peered through the window of the car to see if Metal was on the other side.

A moment too late would've spelled the end for him.

"WOAH!"

Catching Metal attempting to fire a laser through the car from the other side, Sonic ducked down to avoid the attack. The crowd panicked and took shelter as well; with their bodies taking cover, Metal flew through the window and joined Sonic on the other side. The two exchanged a series of fists and kicks, some blocked and others landing.

Breaking the stalemate, Sonic sent a roundhouse kick that sent Metal off the side of the train, getting rolled and crush by the train and the wall. He knew Metal would survive, but now that the fight was over, he relaxed.

"Sonic: 2. Metal: 0."

As soon as the train emerged from the tunnel, Sonic smiled and waved to the passengers a goodbye and jumped off, leaving them to continue their journey in peace.

 _Now to find Blaze's train again._

The environment appeared to be the edge of the mountainous area, which meant Blaze's train must be in the opposite direction. If Sonic went back the way he came, he would waste too much time trying to find the right tracks again, and if the tracks keep changing…

"Blaze's train is…" _History._

There was only one option left. It may be a different path, but if he was lucky, it would lead him back to the train yard from an overview perspective. From such a height, he could find the train and catch up. But he had to be quick.

"Gotta speed up!"

He raced down the path with no delay.

* * *

Eggman sent the all clear to Metal Sonic, then curled his gloved fingers.

 _Not this time, Sonic. And_ never _again._

BOOM!

"What the…?!" Eggman lurched forward from the intensity of an unexpected explosion in the back of the train. Did they hit dynamite or something?

Pulling up the rear monitor of the train, he growled.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!"

* * *

Sonic jumped over passing trains in spots where there was an opening. Though it didn't lead him to an overview of the train yard, the path he took managed to take him to another area of the train yard away from the mines, where he found Eggman's train passing right above him. Ahead, he could see that it would go down a slope, allowing him to drop down onto the tracks and finally reach it.

When the train went down the slope, Sonic jumped off the edge of his path onto the canyon walls parallel to Eggman's track. He proceeded to leap down onto the tracks and continue running. As he got closer, something caught his eye.

Before the last car of the train was a string of bullets being fired upon it; their source was a motorcycle with built-in machine guns and a black-and-red color scheme. Its rider was none other than…

"Shadow!"

The black hedgehog was indeed riding upon the motorcycle, which was his personal Dark Rider. And the destruction of the car in front of the two indicated he wasn't concerned about collateral damage when it came to whatever mission he was carrying out.

Sonic narrowly avoided the incoming debris by side-stepping when a horrifying realization sprang to mind.

 _Blaze is on-board!_ If Shadow destroys her car, she'll die.

 _I've got to stop him!_

Speeding up, Sonic got within hearing range of Shadow and shouted his name. The black hedgehog turned to see Sonic now running parallel to him.

"Don't destroy the train!" Sonic pleaded. "The Princess is being held captive on-board!"

Shadow eyed Sonic unfazed. "I know."

"You know?!"

"I'm not destroying the train," Shadow explained. "Just the fuel lines and reserves. I'm slowing his train to a halt."

"…oh." Sonic honestly had no response to Shadow's statement. He knew Shadow could be serious about completing a mission, and dangerous when it came to winning fights. Still, he can forget from time to time that Shadow can be compassionate for others.

Sometimes, anyway.

"Argh!" Sonic realized too late that his distracting Shadow left both of them unaware of Eggman's Badniks appearing and setting rockets at them. Sonic was able to dodge and smash the robot in front of him to pieces, but Shadow had to sacrifice his bike to avoid being hit. The black hedgehog watched for a moment as his precious bike blew up like fireworks, causing Shadow to counterattack with a vengeance compared to Sonic as he launched a Chaos Spear into the robot's head. Landing on his feet, his hover shoes allowed him to match speed with Sonic as he shouted ahead, "You think those attacks are going to keep me away?"

The two approached the train and climbed over the railing of the last car.

"This is the car were the princess is being held," Shadow explained. He observed the door and found it was sealed with a security panel. Though he could easily smash the door down, it would probably be better in this case to play it safe. He took out a standard GUN pistol and aimed it at the lock. Though he wasn't one for using firearms like he did in the past, he still carried a gun as a last resort or for conserving power. In this case, opening a locked door.

Sonic, though he hated guns, understood what Shadow was going to do and quickly looked inside the small door window for Blaze and any guards. He found Blaze seated with her eyes closed. Though her head appeared to indicate some discomfort, she wasn't restrained by any means. Standing next to her, however, was one Egg Gunner.

Sonic signaled to Shadow the number of enemies; the black hedgehog nodded and blasted the lock.

* * *

" _To kill someone to save the world…is that really the right thing to do?"_

" _You're so naïve. Whether it's right or wrong, I can't really say…"_

" _Tell me, who is the Iblis Trigger? Why does he want to destroy the world?"_

" _Why does that matter to you? Unless you complete your task, your future will remain the same…forever."_

* * *

Blaze shut her eyes to control the pain. The visions were getting stronger, clearer. But that didn't stop the headaches they brought. And her robotic guard didn't seem unfazed by her discomfort.

Despite not having any restraints, she obeyed Eggman's orders in exchange for her castle staff's lives and did not resist. Each time she thought about her surrender, she kept wondering how many more people will be hurt or threatened because of her. It was as if the superstition about black cats being bad luck applied to her, too, even though her fur was lavender.

Sonic suffered the worst of that bad luck. Him and his friends.

She missed him and his positive attitude. She hoped he was okay.

BANG!

A sudden gunshot resonated in the air, causing Blaze to react defensively. Her guard did the same and turned towards the source of the noise: the back of the car.

Blaze remembered how the train started to rumble violently earlier due to explosions, but she didn't know what was causing them. It was possible that since the train was passing through the old mines of Soleanna they might've struck dynamite or blasting gel by accident, but the event of that was highly unlikely. And with the gunshot which, if she was correct, must've been aimed at the door's security lock…

 _Someone might be here to rescue me!_

The back door suddenly swung open, letting in a gush of air. She heard someone shout "Go!" and in a few seconds her robot guard was spare parts. Standing on its body was a figure of blue spikes and cream fur. Someone she thought she would never see again.

"Sonic!"

"Hey Bla—woah!" Sonic's greeting was interrupted by a sudden hug from Blaze. Blaze knew it was not like her to do this, but for once she didn't care. Her rescuer…her _friend_ was back.

Amy was right. He did find a way to rescue her.

"This is real, right? You're really here?"

"He is." She let go at the sound of another voice, the one she heard earlier. Standing behind Sonic and closing the door was a black hedgehog with red stripes and holding a gun in his hand. Unlike Sonic, he displayed an aura of darkness about him, one that made her a little cautious of him.

Sonic saw Blaze's tension and tried to calm her. "Relax. This is Shadow. He works with GUN."

Blaze's misgivings about Shadow faded as Sonic said this. If he was with Sonic and GUN on top of that, he must've been a good person.

Shadow walked past them unmoved by the two's reunion. "You two should get out of here. I'm going to have a talk with the doctor."

Blaze took the benefit of the doubt and assumed he was going to arrest Dr. Eggman, even though the gun in his hand and his persona begged to differ. Before he exited the car, Blaze gave a simple "Thank you," to which he nodded without looking back.

Sonic put his hand on Blaze's shoulder, egging her to do what Shadow said, but Blaze hesitated for a moment. There was one thing she needed to know. "At the castle, Eggman was holding my staff as hostages. Are they-"

"Safe," Sonic finished for her, holding out his hand to her. Blaze sighed in relief and accepted his hand as the two left the car and jumped off the train.


	9. Chapter 8 (Sonic)

**Chapter 8 (Sonic): Places to Go, Places to Be**

Sonic and Blaze kept running, looking back every now and then to see if they were being pursued. So far, none of Eggman's Badniks appeared to be chasing them, which gave Blaze the perfect time to talk.

At the top of her list, the hug. Even though she did it out of joy for Sonic's return, she felt it wasn't like her to express her emotions in such a manner. And though at this point she started to see Sonic as a friend, he, too was surprised at her behavior.

"Listen, Sonic," she began. "About earlier, my behavior was uncalled for." She almost added "I'm sorry," but truth be told, she wasn't. Not completely anyway.

Sonic stared back at her confused, only chuckling when he realized what she was talking about. "It's alright. I would've done the same if you were in my shoes."

Blaze blushed at his response. _He would've done the same? So, he was fine with it._ Still, she felt it needed to be addressed, and it was.

She returned to her usual stoic expression and went on to the next big question. "Speaking of which, how did you get ba—?"

"Ah!" Before she could finish her expression, a sharp blade of psychic energy hit the ground in front of Sonic. The two quickly scanned the area for the attacker and found him floating in the air. Sonic narrowed his eyes.

"…You again."

Silver landed on the ground just as the two noticed him. He pointed at Sonic, determination resonating in his golden eyes. "This time, there will be no more interruptions! The Iblis Trigger… _must_ die!"

Blaze glanced at Sonic, who stood in front of her defensively. She softly said his name before looking back at Silver.

On one hand, Silver was from a terrible future, one where he must do battle with the Flames of Disaster—Iblis—in a never-ending cycle. The dark hedgehog in her visions told him that killing Sonic was the only way to change it.

But on the other hand, Sonic had been helping her escape Dr. Eggman and saved those that madman threatened. He could never be responsible for such a terrible future. Even Silver seemed conflicted about killing Sonic in her visions.

Sonic appeared to be of the same mind, and raised his hands to protest. "Take it easy! Can't we just talk this out? I'm not trying to ruin the future."

Silver started to hesitate a little, but he shook his head and fired another blast of energy. Sonic evaded and rolled out of the way, but Silver was one step ahead and used his powers to hold him in place. Despite his struggling, Sonic was unable to move, and the psychic field around him felt as if it was crushing him.

Blaze couldn't stand watching it anymore. "Silver, let him go! He's helping me!" She knew Silver was trying to do what he thought was right, but Blaze couldn't let him kill Sonic. Her only hope was to convince him to stop, even if it came down to fighting him herself.

"Stay out of this!" Silver pushed Blaze back with a light field of energy. It wasn't strong enough to send her flying, but if Blaze didn't guard herself, she would've hit the ground instead of sliding back a few feet.

 _I've got to reach him somehow!_ she thought.

"I know why you're doing this, but Sonic isn't your enemy. Eggman is the one who would destroy your time!"

Silver grit his teeth at Blaze's words. He even shut his eyes out of irritation. Blaze thought her words were reaching him. But she didn't get the outcome she was hoping for.

"I'm sorry. Even if Sonic isn't a bad guy, Dr. Eggman is the only one who can remove Iblis from you. Sonic's trying to prevent that from happening and he won't stop trying." He paused for a moment, then said. "Whether it's right or wrong, if I don't do something the future will never change. I _have_ to do this!"

His will showed signs of wavering, but he kept Sonic imprisoned in his psychic field and tightened it.

 _He_ is _naïve!_ Blaze realized she had no choice to but to fight, and prepared to attack.

"So how was your little walk, Princess?"

The sound of Eggman's voice surprised Blaze, fixing her sight on the doctor in his familiar aircraft. The robotic hands of the craft reached out to grab her, but she dodged in the nick of time.

Eggman grumbled. "Hmph! Hold still!"

Sonic and Silver looked at Eggman trying to capture Blaze, and shouted in unison, "Blaze! Run!" Sonic was taken aback by how Silver said the same thing as he did. It seemed that deep down, despite him wanting Eggman to remove Blaze's powers, Silver couldn't stand to see Blaze hurt.

Blaze kept shifting her gaze between Sonic and Eggman. "But what about you?"

"I'll be fine! If you have time to worry, then run! Remember?"

Blaze did remember, and she called them wise words. Even though she didn't know how Sonic got back from the future, he still managed to pull it off. It didn't look too good now, but she felt he could get out of this situation without her as well. It pained her to think this way, but like Amy before, she trusted Sonic to deal with Silver as she ran off. Eggman followed in pursuit.

"Get back here!" the doctor yelled as he followed after her.

Sonic watched as Blaze ran off into the distance. _Just hang in there_.

He groaned in pain as the psychic field pushed hard against his stomach, causing him to bend forward in reaction to the pain. Silver, though faltering, yelled, "It's time to end this!" He then prepared another blade of energy and aimed it as Sonic's chest.

Sonic could barely move his head up to see the blade. _Guess this is it!_

A sudden shot of orange-red light landed in front of Silver and exploded, sending him flying back. Since he lost his concentration, the field Silver put up around Sonic vanished, the blue hedgehog kneeling and panting at the release.

"Who?"

A black figure landed in front of Sonic and stared at Silver with crimson red eyes. Sonic knew this figure all too well, but Silver didn't.

"Mephiles!? Why are you getting in my way?"

 _Mephiles?_ Sonic remembered how Mephiles and Shadow looked similar, so it didn't seem so shocking that Silver would mistake one for the other. The people of the world once mistook him for Shadow at one point, after all.

Shadow stood up from his kneeling position and crossed his arms, annoyed that Silver mistook him for the other dark hedgehog. "I'm Shadow. Shadow the Hedgehog." Silver stood dumbstruck for a moment, but he focused his eyes on his new opponent and prepared a fighting stance.

Shadow quickly looked back at Sonic, his face alone telling Sonic to get going. Sonic smiled, gave him a thumbs up and began running off in Blaze and Eggman's direction. _Try not to hurt him_ too _bad, Shadow._

* * *

"Whew whew!"

Blaze began to pant as she ran, but she didn't slow down once. Eggman was maintaining his speed as he followed her from above. From her viewpoint, he seemed rather calm.

"Doesn't he ever give up?" Blaze complained.

She ran up a steady incline but immediately halted to a stop when she reached the edge. The sky was starting to become covered with more clouds, but they had yet to reach a position to block out the sun's light completely. Below her was an open valley with nothing but dirt and grass. Off in the distance, an area of dark green and shadows covered the remainder of the visible land: the Soleanna Forest.

The key problem was that she was high. _Very_ high.

Unlike the castle grounds she was used to, Blaze had never been at such an altitude before, the only exceptions being the Egg Carrier and Eggman's personal aircraft, but even then, she still had a sense of safety and, in the latter's case she could close her eyes when need be.

But here, she couldn't just back away from the edge. Eggman was almost upon her.

"Ah!"

Suddenly appearing from over the edge was what appeared at first glance to be a sphere made up of dirt-colored metal; in reality, it was a giant robot with extensions and searchlights protruding from its uneven body. Its eyes glimmered with an emerald green as hovered above Blaze. Following its appearance, the robot held its position as four more similarly colored pieces rocketed towards it, only to slow down and attached themselves to the robot. After they clicked into placed, the robot stared at Blaze and shone its spotlights down at her.

Blaze had to shield her eyes from the bright lights. _It's a monstrosity._

"Impressed?" Eggman approached in his aircraft, leaving its altitude close to the ground yet only a few feet away from Blaze. She turned to see him smirking in pride. "The Egg Genesis is one of my finest creations yet: a titanic battle station with enough arsenal and Badnik battalions to level a government base in five seconds."

Blaze clenched her fist, looking back and forth at the Egg Genesis and Eggman. She began to conjure up flames, only to stop when a group of Egg Gunners emerged from the Egg Genesis behind her and gathered around Eggman, their guns aimed at her.

Eggman raised his hand to protest. "Now stop it. You have nowhere to go."

Blaze's temper was at its peak. _Everything this man did—threating my home, my people, my friends!_

"I would rather _die_ than be your prisoner again!"

Her flames grew larger and hotter to the point Eggman started to feel himself sweat, but he maintained his composure. He smiled. "Hmph. So, what are you going to do, Princess? Will you fight my entire army?"

The Egg Gunners each reloaded their weapons to intimidate Blaze; while she did not fear them, she took a step back near the edge of the cliff. She heart skipped a beat when she almost slipped, a few rocks ripping off of her heels and falling over the side. The simple look down was enough to make her anxious.

Eggman, knowing about her fear of heights, acted on it. "Do you plan to jump? It's a _long_ way down!"

Blaze gritted her teeth, but contemplated the option as she looked over the side again. Theoretically, though she never attempted such a maneuver, she could use her flames to hover herself down, but there was no telling if she could pull it off with her acrophobia. And even if she could, the speed of her descent would be slow enough for Eggman to catch her.

That's when she noticed Sonic running across the bottom.

 _He's alright!_ Blaze kept her emotions in check, but internally she was glad to see him unharmed. And he was gazing up at her position as he kept running. This gave her an idea.

It was a completely reckless and dangerous idea, but it was the best option to get to lower ground and eliminate her battle disadvantage. She extinguished her flames and stared Eggman down, her passive state returning.

"Farewell."

"Huh?!"

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and lurched back over the edge into a freefall.

Sonic watched as she fell and adjusted his speed to reach her impact position. When he was close, he jumped up to catch her in his arms and landed carefully on his feet. When Blaze opened her eyes, she saw him with that cocky smile of his. "Dropping by?"

She couldn't help but giggle at his comment, though partly due to the relief of her not becoming a pancake.

Eggman growled at the two. "You won't get away that easily! Egg Genesis, eliminate Sonic and bring me the princess!"

The Egg Genesis responded to its creator's demands, descending until it was closer to Sonic and Blaze's level, despite remaining quite a ways off of the ground. Sonic and Blaze looked each other in the eyes and nodded in understanding. If Eggman wanted a fight, they would give him one. Sonic put Blaze back on her feet and stared at the behemoth before them.

"I'm not one for fighting in the air," Blaze admitted.

"That's fine," Sonic replied. "You attack its bottom and sides. I'll find a way to reach its head!"

Blaze agreed and prepared herself for battle.

The Egg Genesis rotated its arms around its body; though faint, the sound of artillery being loaded could be heard. Whatever the Egg Genesis was carrying, the two of them were about to find out.

And Sonic grinned in anticipation.

"You think you can intimidate me with just your size? Come on! Let's see what you can do!"

Rushing forward, he kept his eyes on the Egg Genesis, waiting for it to attack; the moment came when the robot's arms slowly fell to its sides. Slides on the edges of the arms opened up to reveal large black barrels, from which missiles launched out in unison, all of them targeting Sonic.

Sonic sidestepped and drifted to avoid the projectiles, letting them hit the ground and explode harmlessly.

As the Egg Genesis' focus was on Sonic, Blaze began to formulate a plan of attack herself. Now that she was on the ground, her fear of heights was alleviated, but that made it harder for her to commence a close-range attack without getting higher. So, long-range was her best option.

She first attempted to assault the robot with her flames, battering its sides with a series of fireballs, but the Egg Genesis only suffered a loss of paint. She knew she needed to hit it harder, but the distance between the two made it more difficult to land a critical blow with flames alone. She scanned her environment for a potential remedy to that problem, finding her solution with nearby rock formations. Setting the miniature boulders ablaze, she launched them at the Egg Genesis' arms through a series of powerful upward kicks.

The rocks proved to be much more effective than the fireballs, each one scraping off the metal plating with ease. One of her kicks hit a rock off-center, though, sending it flying towards the servo holding up one of the titan's arms.

The impact must've been critical, however, as the arm's servo exploded into pieces, leaving the arm to fall to the ground with a loud _BAM_!

Sonic whistled enthusiastically. "Nice shot, Blaze!" She couldn't help but smile at his comment. All her life, people were afraid of how dangerous she was due to her flames. Now, she was unleashing her powers to stop the army of a bad man they also feared.

Ironic as it was, it was nonetheless exhilarating.

Eggman scowled. _She is making this more difficult than it needs to be! Fine. If I must, I can work with a cat that's lost its tail!_

"Egg Genesis: eliminate Sonic and make the princess suffer!"

The Egg Genesis began to search the environment with its spotlights for its targets. Sonic was encircling the machine out of range of the search lights, but Blaze found herself being singled out. The robot lowered its arms and opened concealed racks hidden inside at the ends; Egg Gunners emerged from the racks and began to rain bullets on her; she dodged their assault and began to run away from the Egg Genesis as the Egg Gunners chased after her.

Sonic noticed Blaze's predicament, then looked at the Egg Genesis towering above them. He considered a possibility.

"Blaze!" he cried. "Can you make a staircase out of them?"

Blaze looked at Sonic and tried to understand what he was suggesting. Did he want her to use her flames to break them into pieces and make the pieces float with her power? The Egg Gunners weren't made of enough parts to even make it to half the distance from the ground to the titan's head!

The Egg Genesis' arms began to move its exposed racks back inside, steam hissing from the vents. That's when Blaze realized what Sonic was playing at. Stopping before one of the lowered arms, she turned to face the oncoming Egg Gunners and made columns of fire erupt from the ground, entrapping and crushing them. She purposely arranged it so that the Egg Gunners were in an ascending order.

A stairway to the arm of the Egg Genesis.

"Sonic! Now!"

Sonic approached Blaze's position and jumped up to homing strike the first Egg Gunner, then the second and third, finally landing on the Egg Genesis' arm. He gave Blaze a thumbs up and proceeded to run up the arm as it began to rise to a position perpendicular to its owner.

"Why you little…!" Eggman couldn't believe the stunt the two had pulled. They had only met a few days ago, yet they performed in perfect synchronicity. "Upper cannons open fire! Shoot him down!"

The Egg Genesis' head revealed hidden machine guns on its side, but Sonic was already up on top of its head before they started firing. He bounced hard in place, pleased at the sweet sound of bolts and parts coming loose on the inside. After a string of bounces, another of the giant arms fell off of the Egg Genesis, much to his surprise and enjoyment.

"All right, you're going down!"

This act prompted the robot to seal its head inside its body, preventing any more damage, as well as unleash another barrage of missiles from its remaining arms at Sonic. With no option left, he jumped off the side and landed on the ground, taking off at high speed to avoid becoming overcooked by the missiles.

By this point, Eggman was at his limit. He issued a new order to his machine:

"Begin charging core laser. Take this, Sonic!"

Underneath the monstrosity, a yellow section of a nonmetal substance began to turn orange with energy, the energy shaping itself into a small charged ball. Blaze tried to stop the attack by hailing more fiery boulders at the underside, but despite the damage done the energy was still there. Realizing the attack couldn't be stopped, she yelled, "Sonic, run!"

Sonic watched as the orange laser shot out like a horse from the robot's underside.

 _Wait for it…_

The orange laser crept closer and closer until it was a few feet from Sonic.

 _Now!_

Sonic changed his shoes using the Blue Gem and rocketed himself out of danger. The laser exploded at his previous position, leaving a hemisphere of sparks and flames. Sonic then changed his shoes back to normal and came to a halt before Blaze.

"Any more bright ideas?" Blaze asked.

Sonic observed the Egg Genesis' underbelly. Blaze had done a considerable amount of damage, but there were no more rocks left to hurl at the beast.

But maybe…

"Just one: launch me."

"What?!"

Sonic pointed at the Egg Genesis. "Launch me towards its underside!" He then took off and stopped a couple yards away from Blaze. She stared at him unsure of how this would work, but she trusted his judgement.

 _I hope you know what you're doing_ , Blaze thought. When Sonic saw that she was ready, he ran towards her and jumped over her, curling himself up into a ball; Blaze thrusted her fire at Sonic, sending him spinning in flames towards the Egg Genesis. He sliced right through the underside and, though unseen, could be heard banging and cutting through everything on the inside.

After a few seconds, one of the two remaining arms fell off, its servo being cut clean off. Another few seconds later…

CRUNCH!

"Whoo!" Sonic emerged out of the servo of the remaining arm, causing the arm to join its doppelgangers on the ground. The blue hedgehog landed on top of the arm, a look of victory shining on his face.

Blaze chuckled amused, but she regained her seriousness when she realized the Egg Genesis was still functioning. She could see Eggman in his aircraft nearby, hammering away at the controls.

He was not happy.

The robot began to blare an alarm, and it quickly lost altitude, yet its eyes remained locked on the two of them. It didn't take long for Blaze to put two and two together.

 _A suicide mission?!_

"Sonic, look out! The fortress is crashing!" Sonic and Blaze began to run in opposite directions as the Egg Genesis came crashing down on them. The two managed to clear the impact area, but the force from the resulting explosion sent them flying in different directions.

Sonic ended up crashing head-first into the dirt.

Blaze hit the uneven canyon wall with the left side of her body.

"Ah!" She screamed in pain, clenching her eyes shut. As much as it hurt, she couldn't let the pain produce any tears. As she struggled to get off the ground, Sonic emerged from his landing spot and rushed to her side.

"Blaze! You OK?"

"I-I'm fine." She was able to stand her legs, though a little wobbly. Placing her hand to the canyon wall for support, Blaze tried to prevent herself from tearing up through simple breathing exercises. Once the harsh feeling passed, she stopped and produced a small smile at Sonic to reassure him.

He looked at her cautiously for a moment, yet he quickly returned the smile.

"Guess Eggman's getting desperate, huh?"

"It would appear so." Blaze knew Eggman wanted her alive, but the Egg Genesis' suicidal run made her wonder if the mad doctor was losing patience with her. It wouldn't have surprised her.

"Speaking of desperate," Sonic said. "That was a gutsy move back there, you falling off the cliff like that!"

The moment flashed through Blaze's mind in a heartbeat, and she shook her head. "Yes, and I hope I never have to do that again." It just so happened that Sonic was there to catch her. If he hadn't shown up, she was unsure if she would have saved herself or braced for impact.

She sighed internally. _How many times does that make this where he's helped me?_ At this point, she did not care. Whenever Sonic was around, things always seemed to get better. Even when Eggman sent him into the future, he came back and struck another blow to the doctor's ego. She would need to have a talk with him about his experiences in the future, but for now she was just glad to have him by her side again.

With a sincere smile, she said, "I owe you a lot, Sonic. Thank you." She bowed her head and gazed back at him.

Sonic was unprepared for such behavior from the Princess of Soleanna. He chuckled bashfully. The moment passed when the two heard the familiar sound of Eggman's forces flying towards them in the distance.

Sonic looked behind him towards the forest. Their options were to continue fighting or flee. Truth be told, he would've enjoyed smashing more of Eggman's pawns, but one look at Blaze was enough to convince him otherwise. Her dress appeared tattered, and her body showed signs of soreness.

Most of off, she looked tired.

 _Blaze may have the power to potentially obliterate armies, yet how many times has she actually been in a fight?_ Sonic wondered. He made up his mind.

"Let's head into the jungle!"

Blaze looked at Sonic, then the jungle, and finally Sonic again. She nodded and began to walk towards the trees.

Only to fall over in agony.

"Ow!" She held her left leg with her hands, closing her eyes tightly. When she opened them again, she observed her leg carefully. It was then she saw it was bleeding.

 _That collision must've been worse on the leg,_ she thought.

There was no way she could run in this condition.

"Huh?!"

She felt herself being lifted off her feet into Sonic's arms. When the blue hedgehog saw the injury to her leg, he must've thought the same thing and believed it best to carry her.

She had told him once before that he did not need to carry her all the time. Yet here again was another occasion where he had to do so.

Sonic defended his actions saying, "Consider it repayment for taking care of my arm." He pondered something for a second, then smiled mischievously at her. Winking, he added, "Try to stay awake this time."

She knew what he was referring to and became annoyed. "Very funny." Still, despite what she had said before, she had grown used to being in his arms. Felt comforted, even. Maybe it was the pain talking, but a small part of her wished for this to never end.

She shook her head in embarrassment. _Yeah, it's the pain talking._

Holding on to her tightly, Sonic took off and disappeared among the trees.

* * *

The Soleanna Forest—a complex ecosystem of tall trees covered in moss and dense vegetation—was home to exotic creatures not commonly found in the world. For example, large turtles inhabited the lake areas, their shells as massive as small craters from meteor strikes. Butterflies were also a familiar phenomenon, but their wing colors were a rich purple or blue not seen in others of their kind.

Not common to the forest, however, were the Badniks chasing after Sonic and Blaze and leaving a mess behind. As Sonic sidestepped to dodge their attacks, Blaze attempted to fire back at them using her flames. One by one, they became scrap metal from the powerful force of the flames, but much like the mythical hydra, two more would soon replace one fallen comrade.

"Let's run straight up!" Sonic yelled.

When Blaze turned her head, she saw Sonic was referring to a large tree slanted enough to run on. The tree still managed to reach the canopy of the other trees.

Blaze felt her body shiver at the thought of getting higher, but Sonic was already racing up the tree. Besides, even though she would've preferred staying close to the ground, there was no other path to take that was clear enough for them to run through.

Soon, there were high above the ground again, with Sonic jumping from branch to branch. The Badniks, attempting to fly through them, found their numbers being depleted rapidly as the larger ones kept smashing into the oversized twigs. Sonic chuckled at the robots' stupidity. However, he soon found himself at the end of a joke when he ran out of branches to jump from.

When Blaze saw this herself, she looked around and found a large lime-colored vine with a curled orange tip dangling nearby. Behind it lied another branch to land on. She pointed it out to Sonic

"Sonic, the vine!"

Sonic adjusted his grip on Blaze so that he was hanging on to her with one arm. She wrapped her arms firmly around his neck (whether it was the smart thing to do or she was doing it out of fear was unclear). He then jumped and grabbed the vine with his free hand.

But this was no ordinary vine. It began to uncoil itself, and the two found themselves descending towards the ground at a hasty speed. Blaze became terrified.

"Aaaaah!"

The impact never came, as Sonic and Blaze found themselves hovering a few inches off the ground. Sonic let go of the vine, letting it wrap itself back up like a licorice roll, and resumed carrying Blaze. There was still a lot of ground to cover, and they hadn't escape Eggman yet.

The remaining Badniks descended down to their level in hot pursuit, and once again the two found themselves in the same position as earlier: Sonic running, and Blaze shooting. Continuing on the path, Sonic came to a dead halt before his oldest adversary: a large area covered in dangerously deep levels of dark blue water. Scattered around the lake area were mystic ruins covered in moss.

If he wasn't carrying Blaze around, traversing this area would've been easy, but the extra weight of a person in his arms made it more difficult to reach his normal high speeds. As they were now, running across the water was impossible.

Blaze landed a blow on the last of the Badniks before glancing at the area before them. Seeing the ruins, she knew they were getting closer to Soleanna's Castle Town, but the fact of the matter was they would need to cross the lake.

"Looks like we'll need to swim across." Despite her injured leg, Blaze was an adept swimmer; it was one of her few pastimes when she wasn't working on paperwork.

Sonic, on the other hand…

"That's gonna be a problem."

"Why?"

"…I can't swim." On numerous occasions, Sonic found his adventures led him to travel under water, but those experiences almost always involved him escaping death from drowning. He had put it on his to-do list to learn how to swim, yet now was a time where such a skill would be useful.

And he didn't have it.

He could've used the Sky Gem to transport them across, but unlike the volcano in the future there wasn't an easy spot for it to land on; if he missed, they could fly straight into the water.

Blaze contemplated for a moment. If they stayed here, Eggman's forces would find them again; chances are, he wouldn't send in the small fry anymore if they kept defeating them. The two of them needed to get over the lake, and fast. Looking down at her hand, she produced an idea.

"Sonic, how far can you jump with me to that root?" She pointed at the closest platform for them to cross: the root from an overgrown tree that was sticking out of the water.

"I can probably make it halfway."

"Do it."

"What?"

Blaze produced a flame in her hand. "I'll use my power to hover us the rest of the way." _Now's a better time to test that theory than never._

Sonic stared at the flame for a moment, then at Blaze. He nodded trustingly. Holding on to her firmly, he took a long jump stance and propelled himself off the ground. The water below reflected an image of them gliding above it.

As soon as the two had reached the critical peak of the jump, Blaze unleashed a continuous stream of fire, slowing their descent as they continued to move towards the root. Once Sonic's foot touched the root, he quickly started to run again, desiring to stay away from the water.

"Nice thinking, Blaze!"

She simply nodded as thanks, and the two continued crossing the lake in this manner.

* * *

After running for some time, the two were starting to reach the end of the forest. Less trees and vegetation were blocking the way, and it was starting to become easier to see the sky above. The clouds were starting to pass, and the sun emitted near-white rays of light down through the canopy of the trees.

While Sonic kept moving ahead with Blaze in his arms, she looked behind them. There were no signs of any of Eggman's machines, and besides the sound of Sonic's feet running on the ground, she could hear birds singing.

 _Finally…_

"It looks like we've lost them," she commented.

Sonic nodded smiling. He then thought to himself for a moment, then declared, "I'll settle things here."

He knew he had to stop Dr. Eggman, so the best option was to go back and finish the fight. If he hurried, Eggman wouldn't have gotten far. Knowing the old Egghead, he didn't like to waste any parts that could still be useful to him, so chances are he would be gathering any salvageable parts from the Egg Genesis before heading back to his base in White Acropolis. Worst case, Sonic would take the teleporter in the New Town to White Acropolis and defeat Eggman there.

But first thing's first.

"Blaze, once I get into town, you should go back to the castle."

"OK…" Blaze knew this was the right thing to do. Without Eggman and (hopefully) Silver in the way, she should have no trouble gathering a defense force now. Plus, in her injured state, she wouldn't be of much use to Sonic in a fight with Eggman, though she _really_ wanted to make him pay for all the trouble he's caused.

Still, she was a bit sad about this plan. Originally, she was fine with the idea of just her getting Soleanna ready for any more of Eggman's attacks, if they ever came. But now, she couldn't imagine defending against Eggman without Sonic to be there with her.

It was ridiculous. She had only known him for a few days, yet she wanted him to stay. Maybe it was because of how well he was in a fight, or that cocky, yet caring attitude of his.

Maybe…it was because he was her friend. Like Cream and Cheese, its hard to not be with people you care about in a harsh world.

Sonic noticed her sadness and felt a little bad. He was leaving a friend alone to go fight Eggman; it was nothing new, but with someone like Blaze—a princess who suffered a terrible past and carrying a big burden—leaving her felt wrong.

 _It has to be done,_ Sonic thought. That's when he remembered something about this forest.

 _But that doesn't mean we can't take a quick detour!_

He immediately changed his direction to the right, leaving Blaze confused.

"Sonic?"

He carried her down a small slope of grass, and before long the two had reached a point where the trees cleared up. Sunlight radiated down on Blaze's face as she gasped in wonder as Sonic slowed to a stop.

He had taken her to a small pond area surrounded by white cherry blossom trees, their flowers slowly falling off from the light breeze and landing on the water and grass below.

Sonic set Blaze down who, despite limping a little, was able to move towards the water's edge. She stared up at the tree in front of her.

"It's so beautiful!" Blaze said. "I've never seen so many flowers before." In truth, she hadn't. She never even stepped close to the Soleanna Forest since the Solaris Project happened ten years ago. Ever since that tragedy, she'd been mostly confined to the new castle, only venturing out as far as the town and where her duties as a princess would allow.

 _This whole adventure, I've been seeing things I've never thought I'd see._

It did bring a question about her companion to mind.

"Sonic," she asked. "Have you visited many wonderful places before?" She held out her hands to catch some of the falling snow flowers.

Sonic smiled. "Yeah."

Blaze could only imagine all the sights Sonic must had seen in his adventures, places beyond comprehension.

Places beyond reach.

It only reminded her of how short their time together was, and how much longer it would last. She turned to Sonic, who stood cross armed looking out at the forest behind them. Most likely, he was keeping his eyes open for Eggman's forces, just in case.

"Once you defeat Eggman…you'll leave, won't you?"

Sonic felt a small pain in his chest, but he was prepared for this moment. He turned to Blaze and slowly nodded in the affirmative. It hurt her a little, but she concealed her emotions well behind a soft smile.

"Though I'll admit I've been frightened many times, I've also enjoyed this adventure with you." She paused for a moment, thinking back to her life before meeting Sonic. "It allowed me to be something more than a princess cursed with a terrible burden. I was able to be…me."

Sonic closed his eyes in understanding. To have such power yet also a demanding duty to others, it was nothing to take lightly.

"It sounds like being a princess with powers isn't that easy." One would normally think the opposite would be true, but Blaze's experience told Sonic otherwise.

"It isn't sometimes, but I love this country. Even if some people fear me due to this…" Blaze looked at her hand, holding it to her breast. "I care for them. Everyone in the castle, the children, all my citizens really…"

She turned and looked up at the sky, closing her eyes in recollection. "The same love my late mother and father had…"

She could envision the old castle's more simplistic throne room, where the light coming in was from two windows behind the throne, shaped like a large bird beneath the sun. In that chair was an old, yet caring father cat with a small, lavender female cat sobbing on his leg. He would caress her hair, telling her "Don't cry, Blaze. Become a strong queen who doesn't cry no matter what happens."

The memory faded from her mind as she opened her eyes. The view of the water and trees came back to her field of vision, but her smile was replaced by an empty expression.

"And so, I do my best to protect my country."

She turned back to face Sonic, who listened patiently to every word she said. "I understand everything my parents said to me now, thanks to you." Sonic smiled in kind, yet he said nothing.

Blaze knew their time together wouldn't last forever, yet Sonic had done so much for her that she prayed to Solaris it would never end.

But then, maybe it doesn't have to.

"Sonic."

"Hm?"

"Do you…like Soleanna?"

Sonic thought it over for a moment. "Yeah. It seems like a pretty cool town."

"W-well, that's good…I mean, um…" Blaze stumbled on her words. It was hard for her to ask much from a friend, but this may be her only chance to spend more time with Sonic, so she tried collecting herself. "How would you like to stay? In Soleanna?"

"Huh?" Sonic was a bit stunned at this question, so Blaze elaborated.

"You've done so much for me and this country, we could never pay you back for your service. And since you're the type of person that likes helping people, I figured…maybe you would like to stay as a royal guardian of sorts."

It sounded stupid coming out of her mouth, but it was the best way to phrase it. She offered a sad smile at Sonic, hoping he would say yes. To have a friend like him would make life much easier for her.

And Sonic did consider it. For the most part, he was somewhat of a nomad, always on the go. He may crash at Tails' workshop or the small shack he had on Christmas Island every now and then, but up until now he never had a place to truly call home.

Plus, Blaze seemed like a nice person to be around. She may be a bit more reserved with a slight temper if provoked enough, yet he felt a kindred spirit with her—he was a free soul going different places all the time, never making lifelong connections besides those that could keep up or those that praised him as a hero. Blaze, though, was tied down to one place and yearning for the chance to be herself, but she is beloved by her people for what she does as a princess.

They were heroes of two different molds.

But to stay in Soleanna as a 'royal guardian' as she put it, it meant little to no time to explore the world anymore. And with Eggman always threatening the safety of the world, it just was not possible.

Not now, anyway.

"I appreciate the offer," Sonic apologized, "But I can't. Soleanna isn't the first place Eggman's targeted. It's my duty to stop whatever scheme he comes up with, no matter where he is. Besides, I may get a little bit uncomfortable being surrounded by so much water."

"…I understand." Blaze knew it was a long shot, but she did not regret asking. She was a little upset, though, yet tried to hide it through her usual stoic expression. "Sonic, when you leave here to go on another adventure…remember this place. Remember Soleanna. You'll always be welcomed."

Sonic curled his hand into a fist in front of him, "Definitely."

Blaze smiled at him, but she started to feel something in her eyes.

 _No…_

She turned away closing her eyes, trying to keep the waterworks at bay.

"Blaze?"

Sonic looked at her, concerned. Without looking back, she replied, "I'm fine…Sorry."

 _I must've cry…I can't…_

She turned back and hugged Sonic, who slowly returned the hug. She hoped his warmth would be enough to hold back the tears. It did the trick, but the whole experience reminded her how at stake the world was if she allowed herself to get emotional like this. As much as it hurt to say goodbye to him, it was probably for the best that Sonic did leave.

 _One less person to worry about._

"Blaze…smile."

Blaze looked Sonic in the eyes, remembering the night they spent together beneath the stars. The butterfly that had landed on his nose amused her then, and her smile made him happy.

So, she smiled for him.

 _One less_ friend _to have by my side._


	10. Chapter 9 (Sonic)

**Chapter 9 (Sonic): Blaze's Fate**

"Ow!"

"Opps. Sorry, Miss Blaze!"

"Chao Chao!"

Blaze squeezed her chair harder as Cream tightened the bandages around her injured leg. "It's fine."

When Cream finished her work, she exclaimed, "There! All better."

Blaze examined Cream's handiwork and complemented her. Though she could still feel a little bit of stinging, the pain was much better than before. Her clothes, on the other hand, would need to be changed.

Once Sonic had returned her to the castle, Cream and Cheese were the first to rush to Blaze's side when they saw her leg. The other guards and staff members followed suite, upset that she was injured but relieved she was back safe and sound. Even Abraham Tower, the commander of GUN, who was there by circumstance expressed his gratitude to Sonic for saving Blaze.

Before she had Cream and Cheese tend to her wound, Blaze ordered her guards to rally the defenses for another attack by Eggman. As for Tower, she told him the country of Soleanna would form a trade agreement with the United Federation in exchange for GUN's help with stopping Dr. Eggman. The gruff commander, who was usually as stoic as she was, was more than willing to comply in dealing with a common enemy.

As such, GUN's major line of machines and personnel were stationed alongside the borders of Soleanna, with a few teams patrolling around town with the Royal Guard.

The only person not around to defend the town was Sonic, who as soon as he dropped her off left to go straight on the offensive. It was probably the last time she would ever see him. But it was for the best. The world needed Sonic just as much as Soleanna needed her.

Blaze sighed. _At least now my people are safe._

"CHAO CHAO CHAO CHAO!" Cheese started panicking in front of them.

Cream stared at her little blue friend, confused and worried. "What's wrong, Cheese?"

"Chao chao! Chao chao chao!" Cheese pulled on Cream's arm, motioning her to go to the balcony. Cream did as Cheese wanted and ran outside of Blaze's room to see what was making the little Chao so distraught.

Blaze also got up, knowing full well that she should be resting. The treatment Cream applied helped reduce the pain from her wound, but the leg needed time to heal. Still, her curiosity got the best of her.

When she walked outside, she saw Cream and Cheese looking out to the horizon in fear. Following their line of sight, she, too became petrified.

"No…"

Blocking out the skies over the Castle Town was a large airship of red and black metal, loaded with enough firepower and robots to demolish the city: The Egg Carrier. Emerging from the bottom of the ship like a tornado came entire garrisons of Badniks, some big and some small. They landed at different points around the town and began waging war against the GUN troops and Soleanna guards.

Blaze was far away from the city, yet she could hear the gunfire from her position. As she and her friends witnessed in horror at the sight before them, a small group of robots appeared in the distance coming towards them.

"Cream! Cheese! Get back!" Blaze got in front of them and prepared to unleash hell upon the machines, only to hesitate when she realized they were nothing but communication drones, each equipped with a TV monitor. They flew to different parts of the castle, one of which choosing to float in front of them. The screen turned on, revealing one very angry Eggman.

" _Princess Blaze, ruler of Soleanna…"_ The drones projected Eggman's voice, but Blaze could hear the same voice being emitted from the Egg Carrier and the town itself.

 _Guess he really wants to make sure I get this message,_ she thought, gritting her teeth.

" _By refusing to negotiate with me, you have forced me to take drastic actions, such as making an example of your border security."_

 _Border security?_ Blaze turned her hands into fists and closed her eyes. _Don't tell me he…_

" _Meet me at the specified point_ alone _at 4 o'clock today. You'll find a group of Egg Gunners outside your castle to escort you here."_ The screen changed to showcase the location—one of the islands in Wave Ocean. And below the balcony approaching over the water were the very 'escorts' Eggman specified. They landed in front of the entrance, where a few members of the Royal Guard steadied their weapons warily.

" _Failure to do so on time will result in my leveling of this city so that nothing but ashes remain!"_

Once the message concluded, the drones took off in unison, heading straight for the red behemoth in the sky. The Egg Carrier continued on its way, heading in the direction of the Soleanna Forest.

Blaze fell to her knees, unable to bear the gravity of the situation, and screamed. Cream and Cheese rushed to her side, but whatever words they spoke were lost on her.

 _Sonic didn't stop Eggman in time. The defensive force failed._

 _I couldn't protect my people._

She wanted to cry. The pain was too much. Yet even now she continued to fight back against the tears. This was the only way to keep the whole world safe. If Eggman got his hands on the Flames of Disaster…

" _Dr. Eggman is the only one who can remove Iblis from you…"_

"…!"

The words Silver spoke earlier—his justification for trying to kill Sonic—echoed in her mind. The white hedgehog came back to the past to save the future, with his belief that Eggman could remove this burden from her.

But _giving_ Eggman the power—the same power responsible for the bad future yet to come—was it the right thing to do?

" _Whether it's right or wrong…"_

Silver, too, acknowledged the ambiguity of the morality of the situation. If she gave herself up, she would be giving what the doctor wanted all along. She recalled how he even tried to bargain with her, stating he would make Soleanna a utopia in his empire if she gave him the power.

Blaze didn't trust his word one bit. She wanted _nothing_ to do with him.

But…

If she didn't stop him now, her people would perish. As painful as it was to admit, it was the only way.

As she rose to her feet, the doors to her chambers swung open. A grey and white koala appeared dressed in a slightly different version of the Royal Guard attire. It was Gardon, her personal guard, panting hard.

"Miss Blaze!"

She didn't have to turn around to know why he came. Instead, she said, "I cannot allow any more suffering to befall my people." She turned around and began making her way to meet the Egg Gunners below. Gardon wanted to protest, but his fear of going against his majesty's wishes held his tongue. Cream and Cheese were a different case.

"Miss Blaze! Please don't go!"

"Chao Chao!"

Cream hugged Blaze from behind with Cheese lightly pulling on her lavender hair. Blaze lowered her head. She didn't want to go, but this was the only option left. She faced Cream and Cheese, the tears in their eyes only increasing her desire to stay.

"It is my duty as Princess of Soleanna to go. There is no other choice."

She closed her eyes and hugged Cream and Cheese. The two of them cried like babies, hugging Blaze tighter. They had finally reunited, and now Blaze was giving herself up to the enemy. Gardon lowered his head at the sight, feeling the helplessness of the situation.

Blaze let go of Cream and Cheese, offered them a sad smile and walked out to face her destiny.

* * *

Tails saw the broadcast from the item store as he assisted some guards in barricading the doors and windows with his own technological defenses. Outside, GUN was exchanging fire with Eggman's mechs. It sounded like a ballad of bullets and explosions. Knuckles chose to stay outside and fight, leaving Tails and the guards to hold down the fort.

Fortunately, his defenses would keep the store and its occupants safe from the firefight.

As soon as the battle began, citizens fled inside the nearest building they could reach, holding their loved ones close or curling their bodies into balls, clutching their heads in anxiety. Very few guards went into the buildings to act as a final line of defense for the people. The sight of brave men working hard to protect them assisted in calming the people.

But Eggman's message on the screen shattered whatever feeling of comfort they had left. When it ended, the people murmured among themselves.

"Will the princess give herself up?"

"Is this really the end?"

"Why didn't Princess Blaze just surrender? Does she not care if we die at all?"

"Everyone, settle down!" Captain Pietro's voice boomed across the item shop. Immediately after, not a single sound remained. He cleared his throat. "It looks bad now, but we can't lose hope! As long as there is still a member of the Royal Guard and GUN standing, we will continue to keep you safe."

Tails, finishing the final touches on the door's fortifications, listened to the captain's speech. He didn't say a word, yet inside he was glad that Pietro was working hard to motivate the people. Yet Tails noticed one person—a woman—who wasn't paying attention to the captain's speech, instead staring at a small screen in her hands. Dressed in a white shirt and a red skirt, Tails recognized her as the castle staff member sent to check in on his research. Curious, he walked over to her.

She saw him approach and, in a low voice, said, "This is terrible!"

She handed him the screen; on the display was a message from Gardon, informing the staff members of Blaze's decision to surrender.

"Princess Blaze went to see Eggman by herself."

Tails understood how she felt. Blaze had just returned to Soleanna just a short time ago, and now she was giving herself up to Eggman. It's horrible when the ruler of a country has to undergo such an ordeal for their people—it hurts not just the ruler, but also those closest to them.

When Tails returned the device, she stared at Tails pleadingly. "You're Sonic's friend, right? Isn't there something you can do?"

"W-well, yeah. Maybe…" He hadn't seen Sonic since the train incident, yet Tails knew his friend wouldn't have left this to stand. Still, there was the matter of the citizens currently in the shop. If his defenses didn't hold out, their lives could be put in jeopardy.

But then he looked back at Pietro, recalling his own advice he gave the captain. Up until now, the citizens and guards of Soleanna had entrusted Blaze's rescue to Sonic. When he, Sonic and Knuckles ended up in the future, Amy (albeit during her search for Sonic) took it upon herself to rescue Blaze when she ran into her at White Acropolis.

And once again, Sonic was nowhere to be found. So, who would save the princess this time?

The woman pleaded once more, bowing her head. "Tails, please help her!"

A few of the trapped citizens were eyeing the two, wondering what the commotion was about, though they were unable to follow anything they were saying.

Tails closed his eyes. _She's right. Since Sonic's not around, I'll have to do!_

Opening his eyes, he nodded. "Leave it to me!"

Once the staff member expressed her gratitude, Tails took a quick look at the TV screen. The rendezvous point was on the same island he and Sonic had visited at the beginning of this adventure. Whether or not Blaze was on the Egg Carrier now due to the escort bots, he most likely set the meeting area there so that the Egg Carrier could be refilled with fuel for the journey back to White Acropolis.

Tails would be able to intercept them there.

Walking over to Mr. Alberto, Tails asked him to watch over the shop. He then went upstairs to his room to gather up all the necessary supplies for the upcoming battle. Once he was well-stocked with Dummy Rings and other devices for infiltrating the Egg Carrier, Tails exited the shop through the upstairs window and, flying over the rooftops to avoid the battle below, headed for Wave Ocean.

* * *

The Egg Gunners carrying Blaze let go of her arms as they finally reached their destination. She fell to her legs shivering. Having closed her eyes on the frightening journey through the air, Blaze did not see much of the ocean.

Not that she would enjoy it anyways, given her situation.

And yet, something was off. Instead of hot sand, she felt grass and paved stone beneath her. The air, too, lacked the aroma of seawater and was colder than a summer's breeze. When she opened her eyes, she understood exactly the depth of Eggman's deception and could not help but admit his own ingenuity.

"Clever."

She just wished the real rendezvous location wasn't as haunting to her as this place was.

* * *

Tails hid behind an assortment of rocks, watching as the Egg Carrier landed like a bird gliding over water. Fortunately, there weren't any guards around on the island to notice him; instead, he had to deal with an array of Badniks on the neighboring islands.

In the back of Tails' mind, this was strange. Wouldn't it make more sense to place guards where the Egg Carrier would be docked? He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Blaze went with the escort bots, so she should be here any minute.

But as time went by, there continued to be no sign of the princess nor her escorts. Tails began to grow anxious. Then he remembered his previous logic, that Blaze may have been escorted to the Egg Carrier prior to its arrival here.

 _Blaze might already be on the battleship!_

Instinctively, Tails rushed out from his hiding spot, yelling. "Hang on! I'm coming!" He flew towards the ramp that led to an entry point for the giant cruiser.

Only to find his body passing through the ramp.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, the ramp disappeared along with the entire Egg Cruiser. In its place, hovering in the air with the circle on their metallic torsos growing dimmer, were five Egg Gunners. Their eyes blinked red for a moment and, turning away, flew from their position.

 _A trick?_ Tails thought, only to become alarmed at the sound of beeping around him. He immediately took for the skies away from the island, yet was barely able to get clear of the blast radius. The force from the giant explosion sent him flying out of control.

"Woah! My head's spinning!"

After much struggling, he was able to regain control of himself in the air and spun his two tails to keep himself afloat. As he looked back, he saw what remained of the rigged island after it blew up. Tails slumped his shoulders in self-disappointment.

"A trap…"

Eggman must've planned for GUN to arrive after they stopped his forces in the city. In a way, it was fortunate that Tails came sooner than they did, or else someone could've gotten hurt, let alone killed.

Sighing, he began to make his way back to the city.

* * *

Sonic slowed to a halt when he saw the damaged buildings and the concerns of the citizens in front of him. He had arrived back in the Castle Town a few minutes ago after his attempt to chase after Eggman bore no fruit—apparently Eggman either didn't bother taking the time to rummage through the Egg Genesis for parts, or he was very efficient about it.

Surveying the sight before him, Sonic noticed a smashed Egg Chaser dripping oil from multiple holes in its yellow body. Sonic's eyes widened in realization.

 _Eggman was here? Then, that means…_

"Blaze!"

Sonic wasted no time rushing over to the royal castle. Upon arriving in the throne room, he found some of the guards arguing with GUN soldiers; a few staff members were sobbing while others comforted them. Among these people were a pink hedgehog and a rabbit with a Chao.

"Amy! Cream! Cheese!"

When Amy saw Sonic approach, she quickly ran over to embrace him. Cream and Cheese did the same, tears rolling down their cheeks.

After a couple of seconds, Sonic let go of them. "What did I miss?"

Amy was the first to speak up. "Eggman. Eggman happened."

"Princess Blaze surrendered herself to Dr. Eggman to protect the city!" Cream cried. Cheese similarly emitted a somber "Chao."

Sonic clenched his teeth. If he hadn't assumed Eggman's usual behavior, he could've been here to help. But what's done is done. He needed to find Blaze and stop Eggman once and for all.

"Do you know where she went?"

Cream tried to dry her tears. "Dr. Eggman sent a broadcast showing a spot at Wave Ocean."

Sonic put his hands on the rabbit girl's shoulder and smiled like an older brother trying to comfort his younger sibling. "I'll save her. I've done it before, right?"

"They're not there."

A new voice entered the conversation. Turning around, Sonic could see Tails panting hard. He was covered in a few scorch marks.

"Tails! What happened to you?"

Tails chuckled lightly, though it wasn't full of amusement. "Eggman tried to blow me up when I reached the rendezvous point." Taking a moment to catch his breath, he continued. "I had just made it back to town when I saw you running to the castle. I tried to tell you, but you were running and…well, you know."

Sonic scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I do. I'm just glad you're OK."

"Heh, Eggman will need to do a lot more than that to beat me!" Though slightly injured, Tails still held his pride. Sonic chuckled.

"Still," Amy interrupted, "What about Blaze? If she's not at Wave Ocean, where is she going?"

Cream, who had mostly recovered from her sobbing, chimed in. "W-well, I noticed that Miss Blaze and those robots were heading for the forest area instead of the ocean."

"The forest?" Sonic knew by now that Eggman deceived the public (or, more accurately, GUN) into thinking he would be at Wave Ocean, but why go to the forest? The Egg Carrier may be big, but even he would've noticed it on his way back to town.

The group stood silent as they contemplated the question. After a few seconds, it was Tails who figured out the puzzle. "That's it!"

"What is it?"

"Eggman will probably go to the ancient castle. It was Soleanna's main castle before this one, but it's been abandoned for some time. It's located in Kingdom Valley."

Sonic looked at Amy, Cream and Cheese for a moment, then stared back at Tails. While he could see a valley being a good place to hide the Egg Carrier, why would he take Blaze there? That was the only piece that didn't fit.

"You sure about that, Tails?" Sonic questioned.

Tails nodded. "There's an old laboratory that the Duke kept secret from the world, hidden beneath the waters of Kingdom Valley. I learned about it while doing my research here."

 _A secret lab?_ Sonic's expression brightened. "Tails, you're a genius!"

Tails blushed, laughing softly. "I do my best!"

"You cannot go to the castle," Cream stated. Sonic and Tails looked at her dubiously, waiting for her to explain. Seeing this, she explained. "The path there cannot be reached on foot until you pass Soleanna's three holy tests."

"Three holy tests?"

"Yes. The bishop knows about the tests. You will need to speak to him to do the tests, Mr. Sonic."

Sonic cocked his eyebrow. Unless they were tests of speed, it would waste too much time. But knowing the Tornado was in no shape to fly, Sonic had no choice but to travel by foot.

"Okay. I saw the bishop by one of the clocktowers. I'll go talk to him about it."

Amy stepped forward and pointed at Sonic. "Go finish this thing so we can have our date."

"Ha! In your dreams," Sonic teased as he took off, leaving an irritated Amy and friends behind.

Amy waved her fist as Sonic left. "Hey! You owe me for saving Blaze, you know!"

Tails shrugged his shoulders as Cream and Cheese tried to calm Amy's temper. _Yup. He'll never win against her._

* * *

The sound of Eggman's shoes walking across the metal floor were light, yet its tone conveyed his mood all too well.

"You've wasted so much of my time."

He circled around Blaze, who was sitting in a chair strapped down at the hands and feet. She kept her eyes shut, but not because of the height they were at. The Egg Carrier was far too big for there to be turbulence, and she was situated away from the window.

No, Blaze kept her eyes shut because of _him_. She didn't want to talk to Eggman; she couldn't stand breathing the same air as him, which already reeked of pollution.

Seeing Blaze's lack of interest, Eggman attempted to defend his actions, stating, "If you had cooperated with me earlier, I wouldn't have had to do this."

Perhaps the doctor was right. If she hadn't run away and escaped from him, Soleanna might've been safer. Then again, he started it all when he attacked the city during the Festival of the Sun, so Blaze couldn't trust his words. Besides, once he got what he wanted, he was going to use the Flames of Disaster to 'rule the world' as he once put it.

Rule the world…

That was the thing that bugged Blaze the most. In her visions, she saw what the future held: a desolate, bleak land of lava and devastation. Iblis would be free, the Flames of Disaster wreaking havoc on the lives of innocents.

And yet, not once in her visions did she ever see Eggman, nor his robots for that matter.

She knew he was responsible. He _had_ to be. He was probably holed up in some base like White Acropolis, kicking back and watching the world suffer. Still, it never hurts to ask.

"What are you trying to do, Dr. Eggman?" She stared at him, her face reflecting off his glasses. "Why do you wish to revive the Flames of Disaster?"

Eggman's serious expression never wavered, but he answered her with a question: "Did your parents ever disclose to you anything about Solaris?"

Blaze thought his question over. What did her parents tell her about Solaris? Solaris was the god of the sun, a being of great power and majesty. Many years ago, he left the world a small flame—the Flame of Hope—that was prophesized to be tampered with by mortals and transformed into the Flames of Disaster.

This was common knowledge, yet the manner in which Eggman asked the question implied something 'less' common.

Blaze knew the Solaris Project was what caused the Flame of Hope to become the Flames of Disaster, but her memory of the event was still hazy at best.

Overall, there wasn't much Blaze knew about Solaris other than what was known to the public.

Taking her lack of a reply as a no, Eggman explained. "Solaris' secrets are in his eternal flames. His power…can change time, and even manipulate the fabric of time itself."

Considering this, Blaze could see how Solaris might have had control over such a power. The sun was once used as a method of measuring time, after all. Through the use of a sun dial and the shadow the sun cast upon it, people of old were able to tell what time of the day it was. The dials themselves were soon replaced by clocks, yet the method was still revolutionary for its time.

 _Now that I think about it…_

Blaze recalled the Solaris Prototype Eggman was developing; despite its imperfection, it was able to send Sonic and his friends into the future.

 _He must've named this knowing Solaris had such a power. But how does traveling through time equate to using the Flames of Disaster to destroy the world?_

Looking towards the window, Eggman, spreading his hands out as if he was addressing the land in front of him, continued. "I wish to obtain this power and dominate everything in this world."

 _Like I didn't know that._

"From the past all the way to the future!"

… _What?_ Blaze couldn't believe what she was hearing. _Rule the past_ and _the future? Th-that can't be true!_ "You wish…to rule over…time?" She asked to confirm his intentions.

"Yes. Truly. And the secret…" Eggman turned to her. "It remains dormant in you, Princess." He saw Blaze's gaze shift towards the ground in fear. He understood, of course. Such a power can be frightening, but in his hands, it can and will lead to the birth of the greatest empire the world would ever know.

Or, to be more accurate, the _only_ empire it would ever know.

 _Soon_ , Eggman thought, _Eggmanland will finally become a reality!_

Eggman returned to the console at the head of the room and began running the Chaos Emerald scanner. "The Princess of Soleanna and the seven Chaos Emeralds…Once I have everything, the fate of the whole world will change."

A small dot appeared on the screen in front of him, emitting a series of waves. "And one of the beautiful gems is just ahead."

Locking in the signal for verification, the computer generated a positive response:

"CHAOS EMERALD LOCATED."

Eggman sighed. "Finally…Now, let's go collect that Chaos Emerald."

Behind him, Blaze was no longer listening to his words. For the first time in her life, she was truly terrified and could not stop her body from trembling.

 _He's not going to destroy the world with Iblis,_ she thought. _He wants to rule all of time!_

 _I was wrong. And now the future…_

She took in an unsteady breath. A vision quickly flashed through her eyes:

The Egg Carrier crashing into the side of a cliff.

 _It's fated to happen. I've just condemned the world!_

* * *

Sonic picked up his pace along the hidden path to Kingdom Valley. He was trying to keep his cool, but the time it took to complete the Soleanna tests concerned him.

 _Those tests took too long,_ he thought.

The first trial, the Test of Intelligence, had him running through wormholes that sent him to all sorts of places; if he made a wrong turn, he would have to restart the whole trial again.

The second one, the Test of Courage, spawned an everyday hazard that he faced and had to overcome. Obviously, the hazard he faced was Eggman's Badniks. With nothing to protect himself with (not that he needed any protection), he faced an entire horde of them hidden and scattered about the Soleanna forest.

And then there was the third trial, the Test of Love. Perhaps the strangest of all the tests, Sonic found himself in a plane with two wormholes on opposite ends. At one of the portals stood Amy, her flirtatious nature towards him making him blech. It wasn't that he never considered dating her, but she was too forceful and, in a manner of speaking, controlling—spending one-on-one quality time with her hammer was evidence enough of that.

But at the other portal…was Blaze.

She didn't say anything, unlike Amy, but when he looked at her, she produced a shy smile. Sonic couldn't help but smile back, yet he was confused. Why was Blaze featured in the trial? He liked her as a friend, but love? He had only met her a few days ago.

He came to the conclusion that the trial must've been figurative. Amy and Blaze couldn't be any more different in terms of personality and status, so he figured it was a choice of what _kind_ of girl he would fall in love with. That had to be it…right?

Either way, the test was easy enough. A choice between Amy and Blaze? Anything that didn't involve Amy and her hammer was the obvious choice in Sonic's book. He made a note of it to never mention this test to Amy herself.

Still, too much time was wasted accomplishing those trials. Once the way to the old castle was made clear, he took off like a rocket.

Reaching a small clearing of dirt, Sonic skidded to a stop when he noticed a squadron of Egg Gunners land in front of him. _I must be getting close,_ he thought, taking a defensive stance. The Egg Gunners readied their weapons to fire upon their target, but they found themselves stopped by a green aura.

Sonic, recognizing the force holding the robots in place, quickly scanned his environment until he saw Silver land in front of him. The white hedgehog pushed his hands forward.

"Hah!"

The Egg Gunners flew backwards, hitting the ground hard. The telekinetic powers Silver unleashed on them must've damaged the Egg Gunners' interiors as well, as they exploded upon impact.

Sonic groaned. _Here we go again…_

Yet contrary to Sonic's belief, Silver turned around and offered a shy smile. He seemed unsure of what to say. "Uh…you look like you're in a hurry."

Sonic, though wary, relaxed the tension in his muscles. It didn't seem Silver meant him harm this time, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Holding an arm to his head, he tapped his head and asked, "…So, what's going on?"

Silver understood the message immediately, but Sonic could tell Silver was having a hard time trying to talk to him as he turned his head away in shame. Finally, he replied, "Circumstances have changed." The white hedgehog closed his eyes and took a small breath. Afterwards, he faced Sonic with a serious expression. "I need to rescue the princess."

Sonic continued to eye him. He wanted Silver to say it. "And…?"

Silver, realizing what Sonic wanted, lowered his head. "I-I'm sorry…for trying to kill you."

Sonic waited for Silver to look at him again, upon which the blue hedgehog nodded in satisfaction. Bumping his fist lightly against Silver's shoulder, Sonic began to run down the path again; glancing back, he motioned for Silver to follow, which he did.

Continuing down the trail, Sonic and Silver encountered more of Eggman's Badniks scouting the valley. With Silver's abilities and Sonic's speed, dispatching each of them was a breeze. However, upon reaching a high point overlooking the old castle, Sonic noticed something gliding in the sky. Upon closer inspection, his eyes widened when he realized it was the Egg Carrier.

"Eggman's battleship!" Silver cried. "We missed it!"

"And today is…"

The two of them looked at each other, recognizing the danger the world would be in should Blaze die when the Egg Carrier exploded.

Knowing there was no point in heading to the laboratory at this point, Sonic said, "Silver, we don't have time. Let's get to Blaze right away." Silver nodded, and the two raced down the path. Above them, dark clouds began to drizzle rain.

* * *

Blaze tried to keep herself calm despite the danger she and Eggman were in, but the red lights and alarm did nothing to quell her fear.

Something had damaged the Egg Carrier severely, causing the ship to malfunction and lose altitude fast. Eggman was trying to work out a solution with the computer in front of him, but he was failing.

"Huh? The engines are malfunctioning."

He began typing in a new set of orders, only to find another alert coming up.

"And what's this?" Growing more anxious, he pressed a button down and said, "Stop all engines now!" When his computer didn't register a response, Eggman slammed his fists down on the keyboard. "…Why is this happening?!"

Suddenly, a series of alerts popped up on the monitor, followed by the machine emitting a series of blue sparks.

"No! We're about to crash!" Eggman placed his hands to his head for a moment, glancing at the failing machine in front of him. In this moment, Blaze somewhat felt pity for him for at least trying to save their lives, yet she knew he didn't deserve it after everything he's done.

And she knew what was to come.

This was it. The end of Dr. Eggman's reign of terror, along with the end of the world.

Blaze closed her eyes to await the inevitable as Eggman once again tried to fix the issue. Unfortunately for him, the whole keyboard became consumed in electricity.

"Why is this happening?! NOOO!

* * *

Sonic broke through one of the castle's stained-glass windows, Silver flying in right after him. It may have been worth a lot of money, but Blaze's life outweighed the cost. Silver was of the same opinion as he levitated the shards from the glass and flung them at the group of robots in front of them blocking the exit. The shards pierced through their armor—some cut their heads clean off—and the machines fell backwards.

The two of them had been at this all across the valley, from the top of Kingdom Valley all the way down to the lakeside. While Sonic and Silver didn't have time to revel in these small victories, they did complement each other on their fighting styles.

"Hey, not bad!" Sonic said.

"Heh, this is nothing. You should've seen how I've fought Iblis!"

The two eventually came to a door leading through one of the cliffsides. On the other side was a pathway between two long waterfalls. Assuming the path wasn't falling apart (like most of the stairs and walkways in this place), it would be the fastest way to reaching the Egg Carrier.

Their only obstacle came from behind: an entire legion of Egg Gunners, Egg Liners, Egg Guardians—the whole package.

"Hmph! That's a lot of enemies," Sonic noted, prepping himself for a fight. But Silver stepped in front of him and, when the robots began assaulting the two with gunfire and missiles, blocked their attacks. Without looking back, he said, "Sonic, leave this up to me. You go after Blaze."

Sonic didn't complain, and he ran the other way through the door. He was awestruck at the beauty of the waterfalls, yet he kept running along the path.

 _Blaze first, sightseeing later._

Of course, the path ahead was falling apart, so he jumped across the ruins and occasionally ran perpendicular to the waterfalls to make it to the other side of the valley. By now, the rain was showing signs of stopping, but the mist from the waterfalls kept the air humid.

Exiting the area, he found himself following a trail on the cliffside. Above and still far away was the Egg Carrier, but he noticed a large flame radiating from the engines.

"It's still too far…Whoa!"

Sonic forced himself to stop when he came to the edge of the trail and almost fell over. Regaining his balance, he looked up at the battleship in the air.

 _No, no, no!_

Sonic could do nothing but watch as the Egg Carrier disappeared behind the cliffs ahead. After a few seconds, an explosion could be heard, followed by smoke in the air.

"BLAZE!"

His voice echoed across the valley, yet no one answered his call. From behind, Silver had caught up to see that they were too late and looked away. Sonic fell to his knees and slammed his fist on the ground.

He failed. Blaze was gone, and the world with it.

The rain had stopped, yet it felt as if something heavy was hammering away at Sonic. Perhaps it was the faith Blaze had in him shattering.

For a while, there was nothing but silence. Then, Silver spoke.

"Wait, there's still a way to change this."

Sonic glanced back at him, his eyes urging him to continue.

"If we return to an earlier point in time, we'll be able to save her."

"…!" Sonic felt his optimism return. _Of course! Shadow and I did Chaos Control to escape the future, so what's stopping us from doing the same thing happen now?_

Sonic stood to his feet. "I understand." He then pulled out his Chaos Emerald, hoping Silver had one with him as well. Fortunately, his companion pulled the silver-white Emerald out and held it hard. The two of them smirked and lifted the Emeralds close to each other. In unison, they shouted, "Chaos Control!"

A portal formed between them. On the other side would be the way to salvation. Sonic was about to enter when a thought just occurred to him. Turning around, he flung his Emerald at Silver, shouting the white hedgehog's name. Catching it in midair, Silver stared at Sonic confused.

Sonic smiled. "I can handle this myself. Besides, you've got somewhere to go to, right?"

If Sonic succeeded at changing the past, Silver would no longer have a reason to stay here. As such, better to give him his ticket back to the future now rather than later.

Silver was at a loss for words. "You…" He wanted to help Blaze as well, but Sonic felt he had done enough. Still, he needed to convince Silver to have faith in him.

"I'll make sure to change Blaze's fate. And that in turn, should change your future, too."

Silver continued to struggle finding the right thing to say. Ultimately, he sighed and nodded in resignation. Giving him a thumbs up, Sonic thanked him.

"Yeah," Silver said. "Just…save her."

Sonic nodded and jumped through the portal.


	11. Chapter 10 (Sonic)

**Chapter 10 (Sonic): If You Have Time to Worry…**

The portal opened in the familiar center of the New Town. When Sonic emerged and landed on the ground, he saw that the sun was still shining in the sky.

 **Bong! Bong!**

Sonic turned upon hearing the sound of the bell. The small clocktower stationed in the square indicated that it was twelve in the afternoon.

 _High noon_ , Sonic thought. "The attack won't happen until later."

Scratching his head, Sonic mulled the situation he was in. During some of his previous adventures, he had time traveled before, but they were never as complex as this case.

This time, he would face the risk of running into his past self, which may or may not have drastic consequences on the timeline. Even if there was no risk, better to play it safe and leave such a possibility for a future adventure.

"Where was I around this time?"

As if on cue, a ringing noise came from his communicator. Pulling it out, he heard Tails' voice:

" _ **Sonic! It's Tails. Get to the train station quickly!"**_

There was a pause, yet Sonic knew what Tails was going to say next.

" _ **GUN found that Eggman hijacked a train! He just passed through the town minutes ago!"**_

 _That's right. I was competing in the race with that fan._ Sonic realized he needed to hide and found a spot in an alleyway between two buildings. Peeking out of the corner, he watched in awe as his past self rushed past the area. Keeping his distance and stealth, he followed his past self to the warehouse area. His past self apologized to Sonic Man as he touched the wall and proceeded to win the race and chase after Eggman.

Sonic shook his head as Sonic Man attempted to chase after him, acting like a true fanboy. It was amusing hearing the guy shout his aspiration to be like him. Seeing no need to stick around, though, Sonic left the area and headed back to the Castle Town.

* * *

 _It's almost time,_ Sonic thought. After seeing his past self pass by to drop Blaze off at the castle and leave, Sonic knew Eggman's assault on the city would begin soon. While he wanted to help the citizens fend off Eggman's Badniks, he had to be careful about it so that his past self wouldn't run into him when he got back from the forest.

So, he devised a plan for protecting the town.

Eggman's forces were mostly going to attack the Castle Town area, which meant the people there would need the most help. Sonic figured that by alerting the town to Eggman's upcoming assault, it would allow them the chance to mobilize faster. Blaze had taken the precaution of ordering more patrols around town and at the border, but they had no idea of what was to come.

Thus, he informed Captain Pietro of the upcoming assault, prompting him to order some of the guards to begin barricading the buildings.

Next, he located the scientists developing their special spring and asked if he could use it to reach the top of the bell towers. Recognizing the loudness and significance of the bells, Sonic thought it would assist in alerting the town to when Eggman was near. The two scientists were more than happy to comply, setting up a series of springs at the bell towers for when he would need them; afterwards, the two went about barricading their lab and started an argument about the male scientist eating the female's pudding.

Once Eggman was in sight, Sonic went about hitting the bells, alerting the town of the anticipated battle. GUN ordered their men at the border to brace for Eggman's assault, allowing them ample time to increase their defenses, preventing any casualties from coming about. Every other patrol of soldiers and guards readied themselves as Eggman's robots rained down from the sky.

At last, the final piece of Sonic's strategy came into play.

Tails would head to Wave Ocean in an attempt to save Blaze, only to avoid death from Eggman's trap. His past self would arrive later, after the battle was over. So, once Tails left, Sonic could break loose and go to town on Eggman's army.

And it was a blast.

As Sonic kept fighting through the hordes, he counted up every single one he took down. By the time he got to Badnik number 34, he encountered Knuckles taking down one of the Egg Guardians.

"Knuckles!"

"Eh? Sonic!" The red echidna greeted him by throwing the head of the former Egg Guardian past him, hitting an Egg Flyer that was trying to sneak up on him. Sonic knew the Egg Flyer was coming, but Knuckles beat him to the punch.

Sonic smiled. "I see you're enjoying the party, too."

Knuckles wiped some sweat from his head. "Yeah. Kind of wish it lasted longer."

Indeed, as Sonic looked around, he saw that the last of the robots were being taken care of by the guards and GUN. His plan worked out well.

Speaking of which…

"Huh," Knuckles said. "Looks like Tails is coming back." Sonic shifted his gaze to see Tails flying in from around the corner. "I wonder why he looks so beate…hey!"

Sonic grabbed Knuckles and headed for the nearest alley available. He put his hand to Knuckles' mouth. "Shh!"

"Mmnim, lem gm mf me!" Knuckles tried to speak, but Sonic held his own against Knuckles' resistance. Knuckles stopped when he noticed Sonic wasn't paying attention to him and, shifting his gaze to see why Sonic was staring at the plaza outside the alley, he was surprised to see Sonic running through the area. After a few seconds, Tails was chasing after him.

When Sonic was certain his past self and Tails were gone, he let go of Knuckles, who was staring dumbstruck at him.

"H-how did y-you…"

Sonic grinned. "Would you believe me if I told you I came from the future?"

* * *

Tails arrived back at the Castle Town, exhausted from helping Cream and Cheese calm Amy down. Whenever she got into a rant, Tails always became worried she would pull out her hammer and vent her frustration out on him. To be fair, Amy had enough self-restraint and understanding that such an outcome was unlikely. Still…

"Good grief," Tails sighed as he walked towards the item store. It appeared the attack by Eggman was over, yet the ominous atmosphere he created lingered still. Seeking to escape it with some tinkering, Tails entered the item shop.

Imagine his surprise when he saw Sonic there, along with Knuckles.

"S-Sonic?! What are you doing here? I thought you were going to do those trials to save the princess."

Sonic glanced at Knuckles for a moment, then turned his attention back to Tails. Shaking his head, he explained. "I didn't reach her in time."

"…What?"

Sonic took a deep breath. "I came here from the future—about an hour or two, to be exact."

Tails didn't know what to say. He looked at Knuckles, his expression begging for the red echidna to say Sonic was joking. Knuckles answered in the negative.

"Then…Blaze is…"

Sonic smiled. "There's still a chance we can save her. The trials took too long to complete, and the path to Kingdom Valley on foot is falling apart. But if we go in the air, we can avoid running into my past self and make it to the base, right before Eggman and Blaze take off. So…" He paused for a moment, making a silent prayer that his idea was feasible. "Please tell me the Tornado is still flyable."

Tails lowered his head. The Tornado still had a lot of battle damage from the air battle in the desert, so even if it could still fly, one hit from Eggman's defenses would spell the end of their lives. Thus, Tails said, "It isn't."

He looked up at Sonic smiling. "But we don't need to take the Tornado."

* * *

Sonic and Knuckles followed Tails to the warehouse district in the New City. The two were unsure of what Tails had up his sleeve, but they trusted him enough not to ask any questions. Arriving in front of one of the warehouses, Tails opened up the garage door. Situated inside with a large object concealed by a white cloth. As he walked over to the item, he said, "I haven't finished all of the artillery and specifications, but as it is right now, this should do just fine."

Sonic and Knuckles could faintly make out what was hidden. Knuckles reacted first. "Is that what I think it is?"

Grabbing the cloth, Tails pulled it hard, revealing a blue biplane with grey edges. On the sides of the body were a logo depicting his twin tails surrounded by a red circle, a white star situated neatly in the top right corner. In addition, the body had designated areas for where weapons were stored, the weapon types being labeled with particular markings.

Compared to the Tornado, this biplane was heftier, eliciting a whistle from Sonic. _So, Tails was building another plane. Sweet!_

Proudly, Tails gestured towards the plane. "Introducing the newest version of the Tornado—I call it, the Typhoon!"

"Way to go, Tails!" Sonic gave his friend a thumbs up, then jumped aboard one of the wings.

Knuckles headed towards the back-passenger seat. "I've gotta say, you really outdid yourself this time, Tails."

"Heh heh! Thanks, you guys!"

When Tails entered the pilot seat, he ignited the engine and removed all the restraints holding down the plane. The Typhoon then disembarked from the garage and lined up to face the ocean. Knuckles started to grow concerned. "Uh, Tails? Where's the runway?"

"We don't need one!" Tails pressed a button on the control panel in front of him. Below the plane, the wheels folded into the Typhoon, yet the plane itself began to rise up in the air. Sonic saw the culprit behind the phenomenon to be air vents, which were generating enough thrust to create lift off of the ground. Before they knew it, the Typhoon was already making its way to Kingdom Valley.

* * *

Sonic knew they were getting close as soon as the clouds began to get darker. Before long, the rain would begin to fall, but not soon enough.

The Typhoon's design, superior in every way to previous versions of the Tornado, had spared the heroes the time Sonic lost completing the Soleanna Tests. With this amount of time now in their hands, the three of them could make it to the secret laboratory and hitch a ride aboard the Egg Carrier right before it takes off. However, the Aquatic Base would be full of Badniks and security measures, so compensating for this delay, Sonic would be the only one capable of making it to the Egg Carrier.

"So, why don't we just fly to the Egg Carrier in this thing?" Knuckles asked. "Wouldn't it save us the hassle of going through security?"

Tails' answer was immediate. "According to Sonic, he didn't see the Typhoon when the Egg Carrier was in the sky. We can't risk his past self seeing us. Besides, that battleship is loaded with artilleries—the weapons I've installed wouldn't be enough to fight back."

No one spoke the rest of the way to the base. Flying over a range of mountains, the sight of the old Soleanna Castle came into view.

As did the missiles.

"Here comes the welcoming party!" Sonic shouted.

Tails pulled hard on the yoke. "Hang on!" The Typhoon rolled like a dog in the air, avoiding the incoming missiles. Having missed their target, the missiles made a 180-degree turn and resumed their pursuit.

Seeing this, Tails yelled, pressing a button, "Knuckles! Man the gun!"

Knuckles saw an anti-aircraft weapon emerge from behind his seat. Following Tails' instructions, Knuckles carefully got out of his seat and stepped on to the now-present foothold; grabbing the handles, he began to fire back at the missiles. One by one, he shot them down until none were remaining.

"Nice shooting!" Sonic complemented. Knuckles nodded, appreciating the comment.

The Typhoon dove down closer to the water, swerving around the ruins of the once proud castle. Entire towers, having faced the cruel effects of time, had collapsed prior to their arrival and could be seen slowly sinking into the dark waters below. In a way, it reminded the heroes of the future world, except instead of a city devastated by fire, it was a lost relic losing itself to water.

Up ahead, a large door could be seen guarded by Eggman's Badniks.

"There it is!" Sonic shouted.

Knuckles turned the gun to face the front. "That's a lot of enemies."

Tails hammered away at the controls. "Moving all power to forward shields and guns." Looking back at Sonic and Knuckles, he shouted, "Let's ram it!"

The two of them looked at each other for a brief second, then nodded and prepared for the assault. When they were close enough, the Egg Flyers and Egg Gunners began to fire relentlessly at the Typhoon. The shields Tails put up provided a strong defense, preventing the bullets from leaving a dent on the plane.

Knuckles returned the fire, aiming and downing as many Badniks as he was able to. Only a few remained by the time Tails closed the gap between them.

"Brace yourselves!"

The three of them kept their heads down, with Sonic clutching the wings of the plane and Knuckles gripping the gun handles tight.

A few seconds later, the Typhoon reached the door.

 _CRASH!_

The plane punched a hole in the security door, the collision reducing the plane's speed tremendously. Tails brought out the wheels and pulled hard on the brakes to prevent the plane from hitting the wall at the far end of the boat hangar. The friction was too great, however, and the wheels snapped off. The Typhoon's body screeched like a monster across the floor, just barely managing to stop before colliding with the wall.

Tails sighed. "…We made it…thanks for flying Air Tails."

Sonic chuckled nervously. He was able to hang on to the wing during the collision, fortunately, yet the forces acting against his inertia left him feeling stiff.

This wasn't the first time Tails experienced a plane crash, yet he always seemed to have bad luck when it comes to keeping his planes intact. Then again, they always went up against Eggman, so by this point, it was to be expected. Nonetheless, Sonic apologized about the Typhoon as the plane continued to let gravity pull off its loose, hanging parts.

"It's fine. I can always rebuild it." He exited the seat, only to fall over onto the ground in pain.

Knuckles, who had fallen off during the spinning, ran over to their position and helped Tails up. "When you do, put a safety harness for that gun."

"Duly noted."

Sonic took in the hangar around them. Boats were spread out across the room, so many that it was a miracle they hadn't smashed into any of them. The walls and ground had a blue texture to them, and the only thing illuminating the giant docking station was the sunlight from the door they busted through. At the far end of the eastern wall was an elevator. Sonic pointed to it.

"Guys, look!"

Tails and Knuckles followed his gaze and nodded upon seeing their ticket to going deeper into the base. The three of them then rushed over to the elevator, entered and hit a button for a lower floor. As they were descending, Sonic asked, "Tails, do you know where the Egg Carrier is?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah! Give me a sec."

Tails pulled out the C.E.T., and after tapping the controls brought up a 3D map of the Aquatic Base. "I figured adding an extra sensor to the C.E.T. would help locate the Emeralds faster, after our experience with the future. Now, we can see a more detailed layout of the area instead of a 2D plane." He observed the map quietly. "This used to be a Soleanna laboratory. Based on what I've read and the map here, it looks like it was really advanced."

Pressing one button on the C.E.T., Tails produced a blinking triangle on the map; it was going down. He pointed to it. "We're here, and this area over here…" Tracing his finger across the map to a large area on the other side, he finished, "Should be the aircraft hangar. This should be where the Egg Carrier is."

Knuckles cracked his knuckles. "If we encounter any of Eggman's robots, leave them to me."

The elevator came to a halt, and the doors opened. The three exited and began to run.

"The battleship will take off any minute," Sonic said. "Tails, Knuckles, let's hurry!"

"OK!"

"Time for some payback, Eggman!"

* * *

The Aquatic Base was unlike many of Dr. Eggman's bases of operations. For starters, he wasn't the one who constructed it. Rather, he updated the security measures and put a few of his own logos on the walls. Sonic always found this to be him stroking his ego. No matter how much he added to the base, however, he could do nothing about the windows showcasing the marine life hidden beneath the waters of Kingdom Valley.

In addition, the old laboratory had a natural, ominous atmosphere to it, like a ghost town. Each step the heroes took echoed off of the walls, as if to remind them where they are.

 _I haven't seen a place this empty since the ARK,_ Sonic thought.

While the space colony ARK was abandoned after an accident 50 years ago, it resurfaced recently due to Eggman working with a then-vengeful Shadow on another plot for world domination. Before then, it had collected enough space rock on its exterior to give it the appearance of an asteroid. In a way, the ARK was hiding in plain sight, yet no one knew where (except the government).

But this place—people knew where it was, yet they chose to leave it and the castle to history.

 _Talk about a waste of resources._

As Sonic, Tails and Knuckles made their way through the ancient lab, they came across a room with two pools filled with what appeared to be liquid mercury. Interesting enough, some of the liquid rose from the pools and formed small floating spheres in the air.

"Woah!" Tails gazed in awe at the sight, excited as a kid. "I've read about these, you guys. These mysterious balls have a slight magnetic force to them."

Sonic tapped one of the balls floating in front of him and watched as it changed directions. "Cool."

"Argh!" From behind them, Knuckles was fighting with numerous spheres that kept bumping into him. "Why are there so many of them?!"

Sonic and Tails chuckled at their friend's situation. Tails then noticed a rod as tall as him sticking up out of the ground in front of the two. He seemed to recognize what it was, as he ran over to it and said, "Hang on, Knuckles. I'll help fix that problem."

But right as he was about to touch the rod, three blue Egg Lancers and two Egg Cannons jumped down from the ceiling, trapping him.

Sonic and Knuckles saw the ambush and shouted, "Tails!"

Tails was startled by the Badniks' sudden appearance. For a moment, he looked at each of them, unsure of what to do. When his eyes fell upon the rod, though, he regained his composure and quickly activated it. The rod glowed blue and, immediately, the Badniks sparkled with electricity and became magnetized to the rods. The spheres in the room, including those around Knuckles, also rushed towards the rod, crushing the Badniks.

Sonic and Knuckles ran towards Tails, asking if he was alright. "I am," he responded. "Good thing I read about these things, too!"

The three then proceeded to exit the room, only to find a large gap between them and the door ahead—the gap was too large for Tails to carry Sonic over it. A large version of the silver sphere floated over the dark abyss below them. When Sonic stepped onto the ball, it responded to his momentum and began to move in the air. It was then that Sonic noticed the sudden laser that shot out from the sides. He jumped off and narrowly made it back to the starting point as the laser disintegrated the sphere before his eyes. A second later, a gate beneath them brought out an identical silver sphere.

 _I see. If I get on this ball, I'll be able to get over there. But the lasers destroy the ball. Hmm…_

Looking down at his shoes, Sonic remembered one gem that may be of use: the purple gem. It was a unique gem, according to Tails, having the ability to shrink the user. However, in exchange for size, the user would be able to accomplish an assortment of feats, such as jumping multiple times and moving faster—Tails described this phenomenon as only possible due to the manipulation of optical illusions and a number of theories in science being put together for the gem's creation. Likewise, the gem had a shorter duration to use before it needed to be recharged.

With no other options, Sonic equipped the gem and watched it transform his shoes once more.

Tails looked at him skeptically. "Sonic, are you sure about this? The effect won't last long."

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. See you on the other side!" He quickly ran onto the ball and increased its speed. Tails and Knuckles exchanged a glance before flying over the gap to the other side, watching as Sonic approached them. When the laser shot out at the ball, Sonic jumped and activated the gem.

Before the eyes of his comrades, Sonic had disappeared.

With keen eyes, Tails and Knuckles observed the air for any movements. It was Knuckles who spotted Sonic first. "There!"

In the air, Sonic had jumped an incredible distance, yet he was still quite far from the ledge. He performed a double jump to extend his time in the air, preforming a roll midair to extend it further. When the time ran out, his size reverted back to normal. He almost made it to the edge, but he was a few inches short. Knuckles grabbed his hand in time and pulled him up.

"Knuckles, thanks! All right, let's roll!" Undeterred by his near-death experience, Sonic passionately beckoned his friends to follow.

The next room was a large circular chamber with doors leading to different areas of the base. Of course, a large assortment of Badniks were guarding each one. When they noticed the heroes, they marched over to their position and began to fire.

"Woah!" Tails screamed as he dodged their attacks. "Eggman's mechs are everywhere!"

Sonic switched his shoe's gem to the white gem, which allowed for an improved version of his Homing Attack, known as the Homing Smash. With it, Sonic managed to destroy a few of the larger Badniks, but as the doors started to open, more came to take their place.

"Dang it! When the door opens, it activates the robots."

The only door that didn't seem to open was the door leading to the hangar, yet it was guarded heavily by Egg Guardians.

"Sonic, there must be a switch for the door," Tails theorized. "Leave it up to me."

"Ok, Tails. Just hurry!" Tails scoured the room for the door controls, knocking down a few Egg Flyers with his tails. Sonic and Knuckles, meanwhile, handled the Egg Guardians and Egg Gunners stationed at the door and the ones chasing after them.

 _These guys are a piece of cake,_ Sonic thought. _But at this rate, we'll never make it there it time._

"Found it!" Tails cheered just as the door to the hangar opened up. But his effort only caused some of the Egg Gunners to paint him as a larger threat and flew towards him.

Knuckles grunted. "I'll stay and help Tails. Take Eggman down, Sonic!"

"Ok! Tails, Knuckles, be careful!"

Wasting no time, Sonic left Tails and Knuckles to deal with the hordes of Badniks as he continued on his path.

 _Blaze, hang on!_

* * *

"INTRUDER PASSING AREA 2. INTRUDER PASSING AREA 2. AREA SHUTDOWN SYSTEM ACTIVATED."

Sonic rushed through the endless corridors as glass doors attempted to block his way. He didn't have much time left. Once he made his way past, he heard the familiar computer lady's voice again.

"INTRUDER PASSING AREA 3. INTRUDER PASSING AREA 3. AREA SHUTDOWN SYSTEM ACTIVATED."

Unlike the previous security measure, the corridors became filled with security lasers, just like the one used to destroy the silver spheres. Sonic, without any intention of slowing down, continued running. To save him the trouble of dodging the lasers, he equipped the last of the power gems—the yellow gem—to project an electric shield around him. This protected his body all the way to the end of the last corridor, upon which the shield disappeared. Switching his shoes back to normal, Sonic defeated the last Egg Guardians standing between him and the hangar door with ease, and he entered.

The Egg Carrier was still there, fortunately. An alarm was blaring, though, indicating the battleship was about to take off.

"THRUST INCREASING. ENGINE OUTPUT AT MAXIMUM. COURSE PLOTTED. GATE OPEN"

The voice echoed off the wall, and the large metal door in front of the Egg Carrier slide open. The Egg Carrier's restraints let go of the craft, leaving it to approach the door.

"LIFTING OFF!"

Sonic, on a walkway high above the Egg Carrier, ran across it and jumped over the railing, landing on the left rudder.

"Phew! Just made it!"

He held on tight as the Egg Carrier flew out of the hangar, flying in-between waterfalls on its way to the skies above. Once the Egg Carrier was at its desired altitude, Sonic began to make his way across the exterior to a hatch leading inside. Right before he went in, he felt a large blast hit the engines.

"Woah!" He almost lost his balance at the sudden force. When he turned around to see what hit them, he saw a floating…hedgehog?

"What the…"

Upon closer inspection, the hedgehog had a more crystalized appearance, black and purple in color. Sonic had never seen anything like him before. But those green eyes…

The hedgehog noticed Sonic staring at him and floated to his position. Sonic leapt back out of caution.

Those green, almost reptilian eyes…

He knew this guy.

"You're…Mephiles!"

Mephiles nodded, remaining silent. Seeing this, Sonic spoke instead. "Shadow warned me about you. Why are you doing this?" Sonic's question lingered in the air for a moment. It was then Sonic realized something different about Mephiles:

His mouth—he didn't have one!

Sonic could've sworn he saw Mephiles with a mouth back in the future, when he went around impersonating Shadow's look. But in this state, there was no sign of one on his face, making him all the more suspicious. Even so, Mephiles was able to answer.

"For the fate of time."

"Fate of time?"

"I wish to change the future, change it so that the princess may live a happy life."

Sonic was unsure of what to make of Mephiles' intentions, but that statement brought another question forward. "Then you know why I'm here. Why'd you send Silver to kill me?"

It was the most obvious question to ask at this point. If he cared so much about Blaze, why try assassinating her savior? Heck, why cause the Egg Carrier to crash?

"You may not realize it now, but my actions were to help lead to the best outcome for her. I knew Silver would not defeat you, yet his attempts were necessary for slowing you down and allowing Blaze to come to terms with her powers—her burden.

He paused for a moment, then added, "I did all of this so that she may find faith and joy in a kindred spirit: you. You brought out her emotional side, giving her the chance to maintain control and strengthen her powers and resolve."

The Egg Carrier shook as the engine took another explosion as a result from Mephiles' sabotage.

"We have no reason to fight. I did what I came here to do. It is time you do the same."

With that, Mephiles disappeared in a portal of darkness.

Sonic let go of the tenseness in his shoulders. "I don't trust him, but he's right. There's no time to waste!" He entered the Egg Carrier.

* * *

The ship was steadily losing altitude. Eggman was trying to fix the engines and regain control, but he was failing.

"Why is this happening?! NOOO!"

Blaze clenched her teeth and closed her eyes. _I've condemned the world. I've failed Soleanna, my people._

 _Cream. Cheese._

 _Sonic._

The thought of the blue hedgehog sprang into her head, his cocky yet cool attitude present on his face. She only knew him for a few days, but it felt like an eternity. All she wanted right now was to see him again, to learn more about him and experience another adventure. But when she dies, the Flames of Disaster will be unleashed upon the world. The wonderful places he's seen, and the ones that he never experienced yet, will become ash.

And Sonic himself may not live through it all.

She failed him, too.

 _Sonic, I'm sorry._

"Playtime's over."

"…!"

The blue hedgehog's voice caught Blaze and Dr. Eggman by surprise and, turning their heads, they saw Sonic standing arms crossed near the entrance.

Cocky, yet cool.

"Sonic!" Blaze's joy wiped her sorrow and fear away just as another part of Eggman's terminal sparked; her restraints unlocked, much to Eggman's shock and anxiousness.

"Huh?!"

When Blaze saw the expression on the doctor's face, she stared at him with a devilish smirk. She jumped to Sonic's side and spawned flames in her hands.

 _You've hurt my people once too many,_ Blaze thought.

 _It's time to face justice!_

Sonic lifted his hand, telling Blaze not to attack. His smile convinced her that he knew what was best in this situation, so she relented. He nodded his head and turned back to face Eggman.

Eggman's rage was evident on his face. "You did this, didn't you? Didn't you?!"

Sonic knew the answer to that, yet he humored himself. "Maybe. This ship is about to crash. Too bad, Eggman!"

Eggman stomped his foot on the ground— _Every single time, he gets in my way. Every. Single. Time!_

But he still had a few tricks up his sleeve. "I'm not finished yet!" Tapping away at the controls that were still working, he was able to bring out the bridge's defense turrets, all of them targeting Sonic and Blaze.

Blaze reignited her flames. Sonic took a fighting stance.

And the turrets sparked and moved no more.

"Wha—why?!" Eggman screamed frustrated. The console behind him let out more electricity and finally exploded.

Sonic snickered. "Great security, doctor! You should do the same thing with your robots."

Blaze tried to suppressed a giggle. Eggman was not amused.

Sonic grabbed Blaze's hand. "Come on, let's leave the captain to go down with the ship!"

Blaze agreed and left with Sonic.

Eggman, meanwhile, went and sat in his chair, though not to 'go down with the ship.' He pressed a button on the arm of the chair, and he descended below the bridge. The chair eventually snapped into the Egg Mobile in the hangar of the Egg Carrier.

But he did not take the Egg Mobile to escape. Instead, he moved it into position over his last line of defense: The Egg-Wyvern, a large, crimson red, dragon-shaped robot with metallic wings. With an assortment of weapons and spots of silver, black, and white, it was Eggman's most devious aerial flight robot when compared to previous works.

Eggman allowed the Egg Mobile to snap into the Egg-Wyvern, the canopy enclosing him. He thought back to Sonic's attitude just a moment ago, his attitude every time he beat him at his own game.

"I'm going to rip that grin off your face!"

* * *

Sonic and Blaze ran along the walkway outside the Egg Carrier. They were passing through quite very thick clouds, as it was hard for them to see anything but grey and white. Blaze did everything in her power to not think about the height they were at.

Sonic helped by encouraging her, telling her they were nearly at the Egg Carrier's hangar. From there, they could secure a potential ride out of the falling behemoth.

Sonic asked Blaze, "How's your leg? Do you think you can run a little faster?"

"I think I can manage…look out!"

Blaze pulled back on Sonic's arm as something huge and red crashed through the walkway. Thankfully, they were multiple suspensions keeping the walkway up, but now the path ahead had a large gap in it. The giant red thing they saw did the same thing to the path in the back, taking a moment to hover quite a distance from the hero and the princess.

Sonic knew right away what it was or, rather, _who_ it was. "Eggman!"

From the speakers on the Egg-Wyvern, Eggman said, "You keep getting in my way, you pesky little hedgehog! (…) Very well…Since my previous creations were _easy_ for you, I'll take you out myself!" He turned the Egg-Wyvern slightly to address Blaze. "And as for you, princess, I'm done being nice! After I'm through with him, I'll burn Soleanna to the ground. Everyone you love will be executed in front of your eyes, and when everything's said and done, I'll skin you alive and take the Flames of Disaster. I'll make sure it's slow and painful!"

Blaze and Sonic looked at each other. They had to get off of the Egg Carrier before it crashed, but Eggman was the only thing standing in their way. There was no choice left but to fight.

Not that either of them minded. Quite the contrary.

Sonic pointed at Eggman, smirking. "Right back at ya! I'll finish this here!"

Blaze spawned her flames. "You're threatening of my kingdom ends today!" Having said this, she fired consecutive fire blasts at the Egg-Wyvern. Unlike the Egg Genesis, the Egg-Wyvern was more of a combat-oriented machine rather than a glorified transport vessel for Badniks. As such, its defensives were generally weaker.

The fireballs struck the wings of the Egg-Wyvern hard, but the distance between the heroes and Eggman was too great. The Egg-Wyvern came off with no more than a scratch.

"Argh! I can't do much damage from here!" Blaze complained.

Eggman cackled. "But I can!" The Egg-Wyvern swerved in the air and launched a series of blue lasers on the walkway. Sonic and Blaze dodged out of the way, but there was little to no room for error. One false misstep, and the two were done for. Eggman then circled around them like a predator mocking its prey.

Blaze gazed at the Egg-Wyvern, irritated. "We won't be able to stop him at this rate."

"I agree." Sonic examined the Egg-Wyvern as it continued to fly around, hoping to find a weak spot. It was then Sonic noticed a large orange horn-looking piece sticking out of the canopy.

 _Just like the Egg Cerberus!_

If Eggman got close enough, he could grab on to the horn and maneuver the Egg-Wyvern around in the air. If he got close to Blaze, she could fire right at him with tremendous force. But judging her previous attempt, even if she did some damage to the Egg-Wyvern, it may not be enough to ground the oversized machine. Plus, Eggman will learn from his mistake and most likely will try to keep the horn away from Sonic.

They needed to do massive damage, at least enough to expose Eggman.

Another explosion rippled across the Egg Carrier, causing one of the bomb doors to malfunction, allowing clusters of bombs chained together to fall. Upon seeing this, Sonic formulated a plan.

"Blaze, I have an idea."

"What is it?"

"Wait for my signal."

Blaze didn't know what was going on in Sonic's mind, but she trusted him. Even if she didn't, it wasn't like they had any other ideas. She just hoped his was a good one.

Sonic ran to one segment of the walkway and waved his hands at the Egg-Wyvern. "Yo, Robuttnik! You give up yet?"

Eggman growled over the speaker. "Quit calling me by that _stupid_ nickname!"

Sonic chuckled. "You can't beat me, Robo-butt, even if you tried attacking me from behind!" He then turned around, bent over and spanked his bottom to further taunt the doctor.

Blaze, though she wasn't one to do it herself, understood the value in mocking one's opponents; in doing so, it leads to the opponent losing concentration due to an increase in rage.

That did not excuse the fact that Sonic's antics were, in this case, a little too childish. Sonic, too, acknowledged that he had matured enough to perform acts such as this less often, given his improvement in witty comebacks, but he knew if he wanted Eggman to come charging at him, this was the best way to provoke him.

As expected, it did the trick. Eggman thrust the handles forward and sent the Egg-Wyvern charging at Sonic like a bull.

"Why you…Here I come, Sonic!"

Sonic waited for the opportune moment when the Egg-Wyvern was close to the walkway; when that time came, Sonic jumped and grabbed ahold of the horn. Adjusting his grip, Sonic got a feel for the Egg-Wyvern's flight path, though it was considerably hard due to Eggman trying to regain control.

"Ngh! Let go, you vermin!"

Blaze watched in amazement at Sonic's plan. She recalled a similar incident with the Egg Cerberus back in the desert, where he used its horn to ram the robot into a wall. But where was he going to ram the Egg-Wyvern? The side of the Egg Carrier? Tracing the flight trajectory, Blaze noticed the Egg-Wyvern was heading straight for—

"The bombs!"

As she realized Sonic's plan in full, the hedgehog managed to maintain control long enough to for the Egg-Wyvern to make contact with one of the bomb clusters, turning its horn into a bomb shish kebab.

"This is nothing!" Eggman whined, rolling the Egg-Wyvern to shake his adversary off.

Sonic leapt off the robot and landed on the walkway. "Blaze! Now!"

"Leave it to me!" She sent a powerful fire blast at the bomb, in short causing it to explode, the roof covering the Egg Mobile going with it.

"No! The canopy!" Eggman cried, now exposed to the forces outside.

Sonic took advantage of the moment for a witty remark.

"Hey Eggman, what's the matter?"

Since Sonic's plan left Eggman exposed, Blaze decided to take a page out of his book and add insult to injury. "I think he's losing his head!" Ironically, despite not being one to mock opponents, it felt lovely offending the mad doctor.

Eggman growled. "You…I'm just getting started!" Now that the canopy was gone, Sonic and Blaze could see Eggman working away at the controls. He made the Egg-Wyvern's hover higher and used its tail to fire two projectiles one the walkway panels Sonic was on. The projectiles, in reality EMP missiles, triggered sparks within the cables holding the panels up, causing them to quake.

Blaze was the first to realize what was happening. "Sonic! Get away from the target! He's going to take out the entire foothold!" Sonic heeded her advice and ran away from the area. Once he was out of danger, he turned back and watched as the walkway lost part of itself.

Eggman laughed. "Wah ha ha ha ha ha!" Knowing it would take a while for the EMP missiles to reload (not to mention the limited supplies) he flew around Blaze and Sonic, launching a series of red laser bolts at the two in the hopes of taking them down. "Take this!"

Sonic and Blaze reacted in time to avoid the laser bolts, but with the shorter walkway it was becoming increasingly difficult to avoid Eggman's attacks. Blaze tried counterattacking using her flames, only to find her attacks barely hitting Eggman due to his excellent piloting skills and the altitude he was at.

Eggman stopped the Egg-Wyvern in midair. "Can you avoid this, Sonic?" He launched another series of blue lasers, this time all concentrated on Sonic's position. As Sonic ran out of the way, the lasers followed him for a bit before Eggman ran out of energy for them and needed to let them recharge.

 _Stubborn rodent…just die already!_ Eggman was running out of attack options while he waited for the EMP missiles to reload. Yet, he still had one option.

A very risky option.

"Can you make it here?!" he taunted, bringing out two robot-controlled guns from the Egg Mobile. They began to charge a laser attack.

Blaze glanced quickly at Sonic, who was already staring back at her.

He had the same idea that she had.

"The Egg Genesis?" she asked for confirmation.

Sonic nodded. "Those robots coming from the cockpit…If I use them, I can reach Eggman!"

The laser finished charging, a beeping sound resonating from Eggman's control panel. Pressing a button, he shouted, "Do it!"

Right as they were about to unleash their beams of energy, Blaze blasted the guns with fire, causing them to malfunction. Sonic then jumped onto one of the guns and proceeded to homing attack Eggman. The force sent Eggman flying back in his chair.

"Grr…You little…"

Sonic took time to bounce hard on the controls, leaving them heavily damaged. Eggman pulled out one of his personal pistols and fired at Sonic. The blue hedgehog dodged and leapt back to the walkway.

"This is it, Eggman! Prepare for another defeat!"

Eggman managed to pull the chair back into position, growing increasing agitated at the sight of his damaged control system. Fortunately, he was still able to move the Egg-Wyvern and launch the last EMP missiles, which had finished charging during Sonic's assault.

"Grrr! I won't go down like this!" Knowing he had just enough EMPs left to take down the walkway, Eggman began to fire them.

Blaze, however, was one step ahead. The moment she recognized the attack, she fired a large fireball at the tail. While it failed to stop the first EMP missile, her attack managed to strike the tail just as the second EMP missile was about to launch. The collision made the Egg-Wyvern spin out of control, and it hit another panel of the Egg Carrier where additional bombs were stored. Two bombs became stuck in-between the joint areas of the wings of the Egg-Wyvern, but Eggman didn't seem to notice.

"That's it!" Eggman, fed up with Blaze's attacks, regained control of his machine and came in close to the walkway. Aiming his pistol at Blaze, who was getting off of the platform with the EMP missile, Eggman fired at her injured leg.

"AHH!"

Blaze fell down, hollering in pain. _Eggman, you dirty…!_

"Woah!"

She felt the lower half of her body become heavier. When she realized she hadn't cleared the EMP'ed platform completely, she instinctively tried to grab ahold of anything on the last remaining walkway. When that failed, her hands barely managed to grab the edge of the walkway, but they were slipping.

"Blaze!" Sonic ran over to her position to help her. Just as her fingers slipped from the edge, Sonic caught her hand. "I've got you!"

 _Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down!_ she tried telling herself as Sonic pulled her up. Once she was safely on the walkway again, she sighed in relief. "T-thank you."

"Don't mention it." Sonic examined her leg. She was already wounded for earlier today due to Eggman, and because of him _again_ , her leg was in even worse shape.

She couldn't walk in this state, let alone run. And even she could, they had nowhere to go.

They were trapped.

"Sonic! Watch out!" Blaze's eyes were on Eggman, anger evident on his face. He was circling the Egg-Wyvern around, watching the two. Blaze could tell what he was thinking.

 _He doesn't care anymore if he fails. It looks like he'll do something crazy if it means getting rid of us._

"He's still trying something!"

Sonic saw it, too, but there was little to nothing he could do now. That's when he saw the bombs still stuck to the Egg-Wyvern. In addition, Eggman just stopped in a spot between them and the walkway to the hangar. Sonic contemplated for a moment what to do and, looking at Blaze, he came to a conclusion.

He reached his hand to Blaze, smiling. "May I?"

Blaze, though not knowing what Sonic was up to, smiled back. "Yes, you may."

Grabbing her hand, he picked her up and carried her bridal-style. When Blaze looked at the Egg-Wyvern in this position, she finally noticed the bombs on the Egg-Wyvern, as well as the walkway behind the robot. She looked back at her friend.

"Sonic, I understand."

Sonic nodded, and the two of them stared at Eggman.

The doctor had it with the two of them, especially that blue pest! Every single time, he ruined Eggman's schemes, his plans for world domination. And with Blaze's last stunt short-circuiting his weapons, he was left with one option left.

 _I should've done this from the beginning!_ Eggman thought. _I don't care if the Egg-Wyvern took too much damage._

 _I_ hate _him! I hate them both!_

Seeing them in their pose, he made one last taunt. "Any last words for the _happy_ couple?"

Sonic looked at Blaze. "Do you want the last say?"

"I believe you're the expert when it comes to mocking him."

Sonic chuckled and then, staring at Eggman, he spoke his say:

"I think the question should be, 'Are _you_ happy?' You know, considering that ugly mustache of yours!" He paused, then added, "Robuttnik!"

 _That tears it!_ Eggman charged at them. "Fall!"

To Blaze, time had slowed down. She saw the Egg-Wyvern coming right at them, but she wasn't afraid. She was with Sonic, who not only shared her courage but also, from her experiences with the blue hedgehog, was capable of performing miracles.

And she knew he would pull off one last miracle here, in a duel between herself and her blue knight against a steel dragon.

The second Eggman was close, Sonic jumped and landed on the doctor's face. As Eggman grunted, Sonic leapt from him to the top of the Egg-Wyvern, racing across its spine. When he reached the end, Sonic jumped towards the walkway ahead of them. Once he was clear of the Egg-Wyvern, Blaze set fire to the bombs.

The explosions rippled across the Egg-Wyvern. First the wings became dislodged, then the tail, and finally the Egg Mobile.

"I can't believe this! Gaahh!" Eggman, realizing the devasting strike his two opponents made was affecting even the Egg Mobile, had no choice but to eject himself. Slamming down on a button, he clung tightly to the arm rests as his chair launched itself into the air. He couldn't open the parachute right now given all the debris coming from the Egg Carrier, so he had to bear with a lot of his chair colliding with different objects.

Screaming in fear, Dr. Eggman disappeared beneath the clouds.

Sonic and Blaze watched the whole event unfold before them. After Eggman was gone, Sonic turned around and began to run.

They weren't safe yet, after all.

Blaze continued to look back, though, until they re-entered the Egg Carrier on the path to the hangar.

* * *

With the alarm blaring becoming dimmer from the loss in power, Sonic ran down the last corridor that led straight to the hangar. When the ship rumbled from another explosion, Sonic picked up his pace.

Blaze on tightly to Sonic. They were almost there.

At long last, the two arrived at the large hangar door, but before it opened, the whole end of the Egg Carrier split off from the rest of the ship, becoming a fiery inferno as it fell towards the ocean.

Sonic grimaced. _There goes the escape plan._

"Sonic!" Blaze pointed at other clumps of debris sailing over them. Sonic, knowing what she was suggesting, couldn't help but smile in concern.

"Aren't you worried?"

In truth, she was. But Sonic taught her many things on this adventure of theirs; above all else:

"'If you have time to worry, then run,' right?"

Below them, another piece of the Egg Carrier exploded upon contact with a sharp rock.

Sonic, seeing nothing better, took a step back and pushed down on his feet hard. He then kicked off the ground for a sharp buildup in momentum and leaped into the debris field. Hopping from piece to piece, he eventually landed on one of the wings, which pointed straight towards the cliffside. Running across the wing, he jumped up between the rocky scales of the cliff, reaching his hand out towards the ledge.

 _Come on!_

He came close, but was unable to make it.

 _No!_

Seeing the remaining body of the Egg Carrier heading for the wall, Sonic held Blaze close.

 _I'm sorry, Blaze._

With Sonic unable to do anything to escape their fate, Blaze rested their lives on one final hope. She released enough flames to form a wall beneath them, praying to Solaris it would be enough.

When the Egg Carrier crashed into the cliffside, a fiery inferno erupted, the explosion creating enough force to reach the two of them. Blaze's wall held out long enough for them to be propelled over the ledge and onto the grass away from each other, rolling upon contact.

"Ugh…ah!" Sonic shook his head trying to overcome the dizziness, only to grow concerned about Blaze's own life. He watched as she rolled onto her back, breathing in and out. He sighed in relief and, rising from his position, walked over to Blaze, who had her eyes shut.

When she opened them, she saw Sonic offering her a hand. Accepting it, she felt herself aching as she came to a sitting position. They heard another explosion from the last of the debris below them.

"Well…" Sonic exhaled. "That was a close one."

Blaze stared at him. _A close one?_ She began to laugh at Sonic's response to them almost dying. Sonic, too, seemed to share the sentiment and began to laugh himself. When their laughter died down, Sonic found the sight of Blaze in this moment to be perfect. He couldn't help but compliment her smile.

"Nice smile!" He winked.

She nodded back in appreciation, and the two of them watched the view before them. The smoke from the debris below was coming from the side, but it failed to obscure the sight of the ocean and sky before them. A few clouds lingered in the air, but the dark grey clouds he had seen over Kingdom Valley were nowhere to be found. It was getting close to nighttime, as the sun was beginning to set.

"Sonic," Blaze said, a little worried. "Eggman…do you think he's…?"

Sonic scratched the back of his head. "Knowing him, he's still alive. If there's one thing I've learned about him, he's pretty lucky when it comes to near-death experiences, too. He'll be back."

"…I see." Blaze became concerned. Eggman's forces were too powerful. Even with GUN's help, she was unable to stop him. She didn't know how she would be able to protect Soleanna.

Even now, she and Sonic had barely escaped with their lives, defeating him by skills and luck.

 _If this won't stop him…_

Sonic noticed her concern and sat down beside her. He needed to reassure her that everything will work out in the end. That's when he remembered their earlier conversation.

"Soleanna's ocean is so beautiful."

"Huh?" Blaze stared at him, then looked out at the water. "Yeah, it is, isn't it?"

"Mm hmm," Sonic nodded. "It'll be a great sight for me to wake up to in Soleanna."

"…What?" Blaze couldn't believe what she was hearing. _Is he…really saying what I think he's saying?_

Sonic continued to stare at the sight. "I told you, I go wherever Eggman goes. And if he's staying in Soleanna as a threat…" He looked at Blaze grinning. "Then I'll stay as Soleanna's 'royal guardian.'"

Blaze realized her mouth was agape when she heard his response, yet it did not matter to her.

Sonic was staying. Temporarily, but he was staying.

She smiled and bowed her head slightly. "We would be honored."

Sonic chuckled nervously. "Y-yeah." It was only until Eggman was dealt with, but deep inside, Sonic was actually looking forward to staying. He could get to know Blaze more and experience the different things Soleanna had to offer in the meantime.

And speaking of experiencing different things, Blaze didn't get to see much of the world except that which is allowed because of her duties. Once Eggman was finally dealt with, it would be some time before he came up with some new scheme for making Eggmanland. During that time, perhaps he could show Blaze the world. She looked like she could use a vacation, at least.

When he proposed the idea to her, she seemed quite fond of it. In doing so, they could showcase what they each experienced in their lives prior to their meeting one another.

It was an overall sound plan.

After talking a bit more, Sonic and Blaze realized it would be dark soon. Letting Sonic take the first shift this time, Blaze feel to a peaceful sleep, giving thanks to Solaris for her newfound friendship.

* * *

From above, the crystallized hedgehog watched in amusement at the sight of Sonic and the princess getting along.

 _All according to plan,_ he thought. _Soon, Iblis. Soon._

As he left heading for the desert, Mephiles laughed maniacally.


	12. Author's Notes Part 2

Hello everyone. I apologize for the delay in submitting new chapters - I've been busy with numerous items, some being family matters, other ideas I'm working on, and just plain work. However, I've been working on this story whenever I can, even when I had some cases of writer's block. Still, since it is unfair of me to keep you waiting, I figured I'd at least leave an update for you and a heads up on what is to come.

First off, while you wait patiently (or impatiently) for the next chapter, I'll leave you guys with something to do. As you know, this story has its own cover image; as of right now, it is very hard to see. Plus, I am not the greatest artist in the world. As such, I'm offering a challenge of sorts to any great drawers out there: if you can create a movie-style poster of Sonic 06 in terms of this story (meaning it shows the main characters with the title) and has color, leave a comment with a link to your idea (or you may PM me). By the time I finish Shadow's story, hopefully many of you will have sent me your ideas. From the ideas submitted by then, I will chose one and give credit to the artist. Best of luck!

Next up, one new addition that I plan to release alongside the first chapter of Shadow's story is the first of what I call a "Hidden Truth." While these chapters may seem odd at first, my hope is that they will make sense as we progress through the story. There will be one for each hero.

Also, we are now approaching the 'fun' aspects of Sonic 06's story, that being Shadow and Silver. This will make publishing chapters a little more complicated given balancing old and new ideas and fixing the issues with the original story of the game. At the very least, I have incorporated a few unused lines from the game into this story, and I have a new approach to the ending of Silver's story already figured out. In addition, I will say that Shadow's story is the most structurally sound of the three heroes, so his won't involve much tweaking, but rather additions to make it more exciting.

Lastly, I'll leave you with a list of the upcoming chapters of Shadow's story. Until next time!

Hidden Truth (Sonic): The Hero Who Failed

Chapter 1: An Immediate Rescue

Chapter 2: Reunion via Ambush

Chapter 3: Not Where, but When

Chapter 4: The Second Emerald

Chapter 5: Determining Destiny

Chapter 6: A Tempting Offer

Chapter 7: The Solaris Project (Mephiles)

Chapter 8: Cruel Reality (A Vow to be Remembered)

Chapter 9: If the World Chooses…

Hidden Truth (Shadow): Sayonara


	13. Hidden Truth (Sonic)

**Hidden Truth (Sonic): The Hero Who Failed**

It was the scent of smoke that woke him.

Sonic coughed as he struggled to arise from his position, his eyes blurred, which was made worse by the gray, toxic gas looming in the air.

 _What happened?_ he wondered.

The last thing he recalled was chasing after the Egg Carrier. Eggman had captured the Princess of Soleanna, Blaze, after an assault on the famous "City of Water." When he saw Blaze, beaten and unconscious, being taken away by Eggman's robots, Sonic rushed after his archenemy, hoping to bring his acts of terror on the peaceful city to an end. Chasing him all the way to Kingdom Valley, the blue blur found himself surrounded when Eggman dropped an army of Egg Gunners down from the Egg Carrier. The machines fired on the spot, their bullets grazing Sonic enough to force him to the ground.

Had it not been for Tails' latest invention, Sonic might've met his end then and there.

A recent gift his fox friend gave Sonic was a new pair of shoes known as Custom Shoes which, when equipped with Soleanna's mysterious crystal gems, allowed Sonic to utilize special abilities.

But Tails didn't stop there.

Through research and development of the emerald-cut gems, Tails was able to produce a new, special gem – the Rainbow Gem – infused with Chaos energy, allowing Sonic to temporarily access a limited version of his Super form, a form that otherwise would only be possible if Sonic possessed all seven of the Chaos Emeralds.

And so, when the Egg Gunners had him cornered and almost defeated, Sonic used the stone to turn into Super Sonic and defeat them all before heading up to rescue Blaze.

Until Mephiles showed up and stopped him in his tracks.

Shadow had warned Sonic about a strange hedgehog who bore a resemblance to him, and Sonic unfortunately came face-to-face with the faker's copycat. He put up a valiant fight, but the power Mephiles wielded was stronger than the limited Super form the Rainbow Gem could sustain, and Sonic fell in battle.

His mind was a total blank after that.

"Why…(cough)…didn't he finish me off?"Sonic asked himself.

When he was finally on his feet, Sonic stretched and shook his head, trying to remove the blurriness swamping his eyes. He was still a little weak from that battle, but it was nothing he couldn't walk off.

Where was he, anyway? It wasn't the field where he fought, nor did it remind him of any place he had traveled to before. Based on the smoke and the structure, he was at least able to identify it as some kind of building complex that was in bad shape, almost as if it had recently caught on fire.

 _Fire…_

Sonic's eyes widened in realization and, a little wobbly, dashed out of the building complex and onto the roof.

"No…"

A warm inferno greeted him as he stood speechless, gazing into what once was Soleanna's New Town area. The air outside was less friendly than it was inside the building; Sonic rubbed his stinging eyes as they adjusted to the dark atmosphere. Below, orange streams illuminated the destroyed city.

Sonic fell to his knees. "Soleanna…" was all he could utter, yet his mind kept racing with dread. One by one, the faces of his friends came to mind.

 _Tails, Knuckles, Amy…_

 _Blaze._

"Is this really the work of the Flames of Disaster? … Ah!"

A brief image of Eggman's smirking face sprang to Sonic's mind, and he knew without doubt this was Eggman's doing. "He must've had Mephiles under his command the whole time!" It made perfect sense. An enemy to Shadow who also stopped him from rescuing Blaze from Eggman – Mephiles was in league with Eggman.

Sonic grit his teeth. "So, Eggman, you finally got what you wanted."

It was a horrific future, one where Eggman was most likely in his Egg Carrier, staring down at the destruction in joy. Though merely a thought, Sonic could hear his familiar, evil laugh.

Sonic's fingers curled to a tight fist, shutting his now adjusted eyes.

Eggman had won.

At that's left now is to steal his victory away from him.

The idea of Eggman banging his fist against the ground, his temper reaching the limit, was enough to give Sonic a reason to smile. "Watch out, Eggman. I'm coming at you at top speed!"

* * *

Atop a nearby rooftop, now nothing more than a series of exposed pipes and concrete, a white hedgehog fixed his eyes upon the source of his world's ruin: a blue hedgehog in red and white sneakers.

"I finally found you… the Iblis Trigger."

* * *

"Hm? Woah!"

A weird luminating sound caught Sonic's ear, but when he turned to identify the sound's source, upon seeing an incoming spear of pure energy, he narrowly jumped out of the way. Once he cleared the blast radius of the attack, Sonic looked up and found the light spear's owner: a white hedgehog consumed in a cyan aura.

"Who's that?!" Sonic wondered aloud, but shook his head. Now was _not_ the time for questions – the white hedgehog prepared another set of light spears.

He needed to run, now!

Turning on his heels, Sonic began racing across the rooftops, his mysterious assailant following close behind; with each step, Sonic kept an eye on his attacker. When the white hedgehog launched a light spear at him, Sonic quickly changed direction to avoid being hit.

 _Who is this guy?_ Sonic thought. _Does he work for the Egghead?_

The white hedgehog didn't look like a robot, so Sonic could at least cross out that possibility. Still, Eggman has used others to do his dirty work in the past – Shadow, Knuckles, and Chaos, to name a few; it was fairly possible this guy was no exception. Sonic kept this option in mind as he leapt off the rooftops onto a broken-down highway below, bouncing off of the road to break his fall.

The white hedgehog was not deterred as he flew down to Sonic's level; as he passed by burnt and rusted vehicles, he summoned them through his psychokinesis and hurled them at his target.

Sonic saw the hurricane of cars flying at him and dodged each one as they crashed into the road. When Silver threw his last car, Sonic evaded it and skidded across the asphalt before continuing his run.

Silver's eyes narrowed. _He's no novice._ He then engulfed himself in his power until he disappeared.

And reappeared hovering right in front of Sonic.

"What the…?!" Sonic was taken aback at Silver's sudden reappearance but kept racing forward, even as the white hedgehog assembled a series of cars and trailers above the blue blur. With his arms extended outwards, Silver motioned them downwards, making the large objects in his grasps fall down on top of Sonic.

Except Sonic noted the difference in timing of the vehicles' descent, allowing him to move towards one that wasn't falling as fast as the others, followed by him racing to the clear area as the other vehicles fell.

Silver gritted his teeth. He had hoped would have become crushed by now, but maybe hurling objects one at a time was the problem. A new idea came to mind, and Silver modeled a series of cars, signs and fallen street lights into a block held together by his powers, scrapping across the highway. _He can't run past this!_

But Sonic kept running forward even as the block moved towards him. When it was almost upon him, Sonic jumped atop the debris until he was moving across the top of the block. A surprised Silver felt disbelief and pain as Sonic closed the gap between them and homing attacked him, consequently making him lose focus and fall onto the pavement. As he gazed up, he saw the cocky grin plastered on the Iblis Trigger's face.

It fueled his rage.

Teleporting back in front of Sonic, he amassed every possible car, sign, light, pipe and concrete and formed a boulder large enough to knock over a building. Sonic watched anxiously as Silver sent it rolling towards their position. Sonic quickened his pace to stay ahead of the boulder, only to realize he had another attack to worry about. Silver prepared a wave of energy to knock Sonic back into the boulder, ending this battle. "This ends now, Iblis Trigger!"

As Silver released the wave of energy, Sonic effortlessly dodged it and increased his speed, passing under Silver.

"What!"

Silver had only a brief moment to look back to see Sonic kick him right into the boulder. The force of the impact made Silver lose his concentration again, which left him vulnerable as the sphere of debris fell apart and buried him. Fortunately, it didn't kill him, but the white hedgehog could do nothing more than watch from inside the debris as Sonic grinned victoriously and sped away.

Sonic briefly glanced back in Silver's direction, contemplating. "Iblis Trigger?" Sonic was beginning to believe Silver may not be in league with Eggman, but that didn't eliminate the possibility, nor Silver as a threat. Either way, one thing was for certain: Wherever Eggman is, Sonic would find him.

And take back this world. _His_ world.

* * *

Mephiles observed the entire scenario from above, unbeknownst to the heroes that clashed below. Pitting the naïve Silver against Sonic proved not to be a waste.

"It appears Silver was no match for the blue savior after all… that may prove useful."

Turning in the direction of Iblis, Mephiles mused to himself.

 _It won't be much longer now. I'm getting closer._


	14. Chapter 1 (Shadow)

**Chapter 1 (Shadow): An Immediate Rescue**

Dark clouds were usually a sign of three possibilities: heavy rain, a snowstorm…

Or an ominous threat.

The latter two fit the bill this time.

The snowstorms in White Acropolis were usually worse this time of year, yet tonight was a rare exception where the sky brought nothing more than a light snowfall.

It made it easier for the Egg Gunners – simple warmongering robots designed by Dr. Eggman – to scan for the intruder that tripped the security line, setting off the loud siren inside the Sector 5 storage facility. For the past few days, this intruder had destroyed several of Dr. Eggman's storage facilities near the main base centered in this mountainous region of white hell, but this time they were ready. They had spotlights, traps, and a larger number of Badniks defending the iron wall surrounding the facility compared to the others.

All the intruder had was the darkness of the night and his own abilities.

Best of all, he wasn't the Priority 1 Hedgehog, so his speed won't be fast enough to dodge their weapons.

This will be easy. They would succeed where their inferior models had failed.

After a few seconds of waiting, the intruder appeared, swerving around the corner of the path covered in snow and surrounded by tall trees. He was shadowy in appearance – a black hedgehog with crimson red streaks that matched his focused eyes.

And he was fast. About as fast as the blue one!

The Egg Gunners immediately realized both who they were dealing with and the folly in their logic. This wasn't Dr. Eggman's arch-nemesis. This was the _other_ hedgehog.

The _darker_ one, and an agent of G.U.N.:

Shadow.

The Egg Gunners raised their arm guns and fired. They knew it was a futile effort. Shadow's power exceeded that of the blue hedgehog's, his white Air Shoes even allowing him to match the blue one's speed.

But for the Egg Gunners, there was no higher honor than to be destroyed fighting for the glory of the Eggman Empire.

Besides, at the moment, Shadow was swerving between their bullets. If he got close enough, there would be little room for him to move. They could…

Shadow rushed past them, but not without leaving them with a small bright ball of orange energy in their chest plates.

A signature attack of his: The Chaos Spear.

The Egg Gunners felt their insides explode, and soon all but one robot from the battalion was left. It tried to shoot Shadow, who had stopped right next to him, but Shadow was too quick. Jumping on top of the robot's head, Shadow increased the pressure from his shoes, allowing more thrust and heat to be emitted. When he jumped, he reached a phenomenal height that allowed him to pass over the large iron gate. As Shadow landed, the final Egg Gunner, unable to contain the energy transferred into him by Shadow's shoes, blew up and became the last member of the newly formed Badnik graveyard outside.

* * *

 _Too easy._

Shadow observed the surrounding facility for any additional guard robots, only taking time to move out of the way of an approaching spotlight. He took advantage of the nearby barrels and boxes and hid behind them for cover. Getting spotted would have alerted more of the doctor's Badniks, which would have made his mission longer than it needed to be.

Not that it mattered to him personally. The mission called for him to destroy the facility, after all. A few more pawns would've made the whole thing closer to a fair fight for Eggman.

Still, Shadow noted the security measures added when he tripped the wire on his way here. If Eggman added any other traps, it would be harder to avoid them while fighting.

The sound of static drew his attention to his standard GUN wrist communicator. The alert sounds the communicator produced varied based on the level of importance. A small beeping sound indicated a personal message from another member of GUN. An urgent buzz sound would be followed by information on a crime or attack in progress.

In this case, static represented a message of utmost urgency – a presidential request. Shadow listened carefully.

" _Transmission from HQ. There's an SOS coming from Dr. Eggman's base._ _Our last communication with our agent was 26 hours ago. We expect an immediate rescue, Shadow The Hedgehog."_

Shadow answered back. "Understood. Initiating the mission now." Once he finished, he closed his eyes.

 _The president wants a GUN agent to be rescued_ , he thought. Generally speaking, the President of the United Federation wouldn't make requests for such a matter; rather, he would ask for extra security for an event or have troops moved to a region for war.

There was at least one exception: a 'friend' of the president and GUN's top spy – albeit a part-time spy.

Shadow grunted. If that troublemaker was involved in espionage against Eggman, along with all these facilities in White Acropolis, it only made the question resurface in Shadow's head:

 _Dr. Eggman… What is he up to this time?_

Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik – great-grandson to Professor Gerald Robotnik – was one of the world's greatest minds and a terrorist. Known for his IQ of 300, Eggman's scientific ingenuity allowed for him to build an army of robots known as Badniks and other machines that he constantly used in attempts to take over the world. While the doctor started out turning animals into machines – some by placing them inside of Badniks while others he roboticized – he has since performed more devastating acts.

When Shadow first met him, he assisted Eggman in a scheme to use the Space Colony ARK's Eclipse Cannon to destroy part of the moon, threatening the people of Earth to surrender to the Eggman Empire or face oblivion. In truth, Shadow was carrying out the will of Professor Gerald, who secretly altered his memories and developed a special program in the ARK to crash into the Earth.

It was an act of revenge against humanity, and it almost worked.

Except Shadow recovered one important memory of his past – the only one that mattered.

A promise to a friend.

Shadow shook his head to regain focus. _That was a long time ago._ He had put the past behind him and was keeping his promise to protect humanity. Other than that, his past was nothing more than a calling card for trouble.

It was better left forgotten.

Shadow knew he needed to complete the rescue mission immediately, but he still had a facility to destroy. Teleporting away using Chaos Control, Shadow proceeded to blow up the facility and make his way down the mountain, to the main base.

* * *

Rouge the Bat hated cramped spaces, especially air vents. Just because she was a spy and a treasure hunter – two professions that would, generally speaking, involve such a phenomenon – she did not find moving through tight areas comfortable at all. Her wings especially wounded up aching after the fact.

In this scenario, though, the only alternative was getting captured by Eggman.

"Ugh! You would think for a guy of Eggman's weight, he would want more air coming through these things," Rouge said to no one in particular.

Finally reaching the end of the labyrinth that was Eggman's air conditioning system, she kicked the small grate blocking her path off of its hinges and crawled outside. Immediately upon landing on the snowy ground, she stretched her wings and body, sighing in satisfaction.

"Much better!"

Rouge then shivered a little bit when the cold finally settled into her body. She had gotten used to the temperature inside the base that she forgot how freezing it was outside. Still, better to be out here than in there.

 _Okay, we got out of the base, but security's really high… Let's see…_

Based on her memory of White Acropolis' layout, the base was built on a mountainous terrain, resulting in a more stretched layout over multiple sections. Some sections were divided by barriers; others were separated by natural boundaries like the trenches in front of Rouge right now. Consequentially, the base suffered from a security issue via blind spots.

Eggman wasn't an idiot, however. He compensated for these natural limits by incorporating spotlights, robot lookouts, and traps.

With her wings, Rouge could avoid the traps effortlessly. Similarly, the spotlights were programmed to follow a particular radius; if she stayed well above the spotlights' range, she needn't worry about them either.

The robots were a different matter. While they too were programmed to follow a routine, they had enough sensors built into them to detect moving objects if said objects produced sound or gave off a heat signature. Plus…

Rouge reached for her pocket to feel her objective, as if making sure it was still there. _No doubt they will pick up on this thing, too._

But Rouge wasn't a spy and a thief for nothing. She knew if she passed underneath the machines positioned at sniping points on the canyon walls while still maintaining a high enough altitude to avoid the spotlights, she could escape the area without being detected.

And so, Rouge the Bat began to scale the wall. Her time as a treasure hunter allowed her to hone her wall climbing abilities, making traversal of the rocky terrain a breeze. As she started to get close to the robotic watchmen, she climbed lower to avoid their gaze. At one point, she was spotted by one of the Egg Gunners, but through a quick Heart Bomb to the head, she disposed of the threat before things escalated.

Upon reaching the end of the trench, she found that most of the patrols were stationed around the new ground level, surrounding the now-visible spotlights. Extending her wings, Rouge jumped and flew over the guards, dodging the spotlights as their beams slid across the air and ground. It took a few seconds, but she reached the end of the trench area, landing before a set of doors.

Glancing back, she gloated, "Ha ha! Dr. Eggman is no match for me." She reached into her pocket and pulled out what she had snuck in to steal (back). It was an ugly wand, glowing purple and white with a shadowy mist emanating from a red, spherical gem tucked in at the top; the wand extruded from the gem on two sides, making it appear to have closed wings of sorts. Despite its dreadful look, the wand had a Gothic allure to it, especially its gem.

"This treasure…ha ha!"

 _BOOM!_

The sudden explosion prompted Rouge to instinctively cover her head. When she turned to see what had happened, she noticed the doors in front of her had a large, uneven hole in them. Swerving through that hole was her teammate, Shadow, in a G.U.N. armed buggy.

"Shadow, why you?"

Rouge remembered sending an S.O.S. when security got rough, but she had gotten her objective and escape from the interior halls of the base on her own. If she had gotten a little further, all she would've needed was a simple evac.

It's not that she didn't trust Shadow to get her out of White Acropolis. As his teammate, she knew he was more than capable of demolishing Eggman's toys without much effort. Still, sending him was a bit too much, so why?

Shadow replied instantly. "It's a request from the President."

"The President?" If Rouge were anyone else, it would've been an honor to have the President of the United Federation care enough to make a request for an agent's recovery, yet she knew better. _Is this ugly thing really_ that _important?_ She wondered.

* * *

Shadow couldn't afford to wait around any longer. "Get in!"

His attitude stunned Rouge for a moment, but a sudden foray of bullets from behind her knocked her back into reality. Looking back, she saw the guards that she had snuck past flying towards them; the spotlights shined heavily on their position.

Looking back at Shadow, she responded sarcastically, "Like I have a choice?" and she jumped in.

Shadow floored the pedal and began to drive away from the robots closing in from behind. He had experience driving these vehicles in tough spots from previous 'adventures,' as Sonic would put it. Thus, when more guards tried to assault him from the front, instead of panicking like a rookie agent, he launched a series of rockets that annihilated them on the spot.

It was fortunate Shadow had managed to find one of these lying in the mountains, most likely left behind during a G.U.N. reconnaissance mission that went awry. It certainly made getting Rouge out of here easier. Speaking of which, Rouge acted very sarcastic to him just a moment ago. Perhaps he should return the favor.

"I didn't know _you_ were the agent who failed to infiltrate the location."

It wasn't technically a lie. The message from G.U.N. only stated an agent sent an S.O.S. from inside the base; it did not specify who, even though Shadow had a fairly good guess.

Bullets from their pursuers landed hits on the back of the buggy, almost like rain. Regretfully, the buggy wasn't equipped with weapons in the back, instead opting for reinforced metal plating to extra protection.

Rouge held on to her objective closely while keeping her head fairly low. "Come on! Don't underestimate Rouge the Bat!"

As she said this, Shadow launched another set of rockets at the base of a spotlight; it fell and crushed a couple of the robots behind them, though quite a few remained. Shadow then looked at Rouge with a straight face.

Rouge sighed. "I got in successfully, and got the treasure, too. I was…only a little slow getting out. Woah!" She held on to the door as Shadow swerved around a corner, and lurched forward when he accelerated again. "But it's great to know your driving's improved!"

Before Shadow could respond, one bullet from behind hit the rear-view mirror. When he glanced back, he saw the Egg Gunners were almost on top of them.

Shadow gritted his teeth. _We need to get out of here quickly._ _But I can't shake them at this rate._

He then quickly formed an idea.

"Take the wheel!" He let go of the wheel and climbed over his seat, landing on the back.

"What the…!?" Rouge did as he said, albeit with shock. "What are you doing?!"

Shadow didn't respond, instead pulling out the G.U.N. pistol he carried with him. During the Black Arms invasion, he took advantage of the numerous weapons lying around from victims on both sides of that conflict to assist in his finding of the Chaos Emeralds. Now that he had his memory back, his knowledge of his abilities came back, reducing his need to rely on simple weapons. Still, nearly every member of G.U.N. was required to carry a basic weapon.

Rouge had her bombs, and Shadow had his gun.

Since he didn't have one of the Chaos Emeralds with him, his use of Chaos energy was limited. And with the attack on that storage facility taking up a bit of his energy, Shadow needed to conserve his power. Plus, the gun was easier to aim in this situation.

Shadow began to fire back at the robots, dodging their bullets and reloading every so often. Slowly, their numbers began to wane.

"Shadow!" The black hedgehog turned to see what Rouge wanted, realizing they were about to ram into a wall. He climbed over to the front seats, hit the rocket launcher button and pulled Rouge down into a cover position.

* * *

The robots watched as their targets went through the hole they had created in the wall, only going through when the smoke cleared up enough. They found the vehicle turned upside down, a complete wreck. Landing around it in a circle, the Egg Gunners raise their weapons, approaching cautiously.

 _Beep!_

They stopped walking as soon as they were right next to it.

 _Beep! Beep!_

One of them lifted the buggy up to see what was underneath.

 _Beep! Beep! Beep!_

The Egg Gunners noticed several spheres with hearts on them.

 _Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!_

* * *

 _Boom!_

Shadow and Rouge watched from the wall as their pursuers finally met their end in a fiery explosion. Rouge couldn't help but be impressed by Shadow's quick thinking. Once they went through the wall, he grabbed a set of Rouge's Heart Bombs, stuck them to the buggy, and pulled her out of the buggy as it fell to the ground; moving them to the position of the wall where the vehicle entered, they avoided the Egg Gunners' field of vision, watching as they passed over them and towards the buggy, falling right into his trap.

"Finally!" Rouge sighed, only to realize Shadow was already making his way towards the grand entrance. She swiftly caught up to him.

For a while, neither of them said anything as they made their way to the gates. Rouge knew Shadow wasn't one for conversation, yet even now, she tried. "Don't you want to know what this is?"

Shadow turned to see the item Rouge held out in front of him. It appeared to be a wand or scepter of some kind; Shadow could feel the dark energy radiating from it.

But whatever it was, it had nothing to do with him.

"My assignment was to rescue you, nothing more."

"Hmph! Fine. With you, it's always business."

Just as Rouge finished her comment, the ground beneath the two began to rumble. Shadow and Rouge looked around for the cause, eventually noticing a security gate opening up at one end of the snowy plain. Emerging from the gates was a large, red-and-gold robotic dog. Perched atop its head was a glowing antenna. It made a sound akin to a growl as it slowly walked towards them.

"The doctor's guard dog," Shadow said.

The two agents knew what the 'dog' was. According to intel provided by G.U.N., one of Dr. Eggman's newest ideas was a large dog creature with three heads, which was capable of separating into three separate machines, each with unique abilities. Supposedly, he had finished two-thirds of his creation, and as he continued to work on the remaining 'dog,' he had the finished two serve as extra security bots at two different bases.

Each robotic dog, and the three-headed behemoth they could combine into, were named "Egg Cerberus."

"It seems they don't want us to leave," Rouge remarked.

Shadow took a defensive stance, grunting. "Let's get this over with."

The Egg Cerberus charged straight at the two; while its movement was slow, each step sent tremors through the ground that grew as it approached. Shadow took off skating to meet the robot head-on, leaving Rouge behind in the process. As soon as he was close, the Egg Cerberus opened its mouth and unleashed a stream of fire.

Shadow quickly reacted and jumped to avoid being barbecued. Rouge, who had begun flying to catch up to her teammate, dodged as well.

Once he was safely out of range of the fire, Shadow homing attacked the guard dog's face, only to find his attack deflected, sending him back into the snow.

"Damn!"

The Egg Cerberus finished off his fire breath and turned to face Shadow, growling in annoyance that its attack didn't hurt the black hedgehog in the slightest. It started to circle around its opponent slowly. Shadow knew it was trying to figure out the best way to kill him, so he did the same. He knew his opponent had a lot of plating with a slight shield effect, preventing him from landing any hits. In addition, the robot seemed to be the most dangerous when it came to frontal attacks.

It wasn't hard to figure out how to go about beating the machine.

 _I see…_ Shadow thought. _That armor on his head is protecting its weak point. I'll break that first._

"Rouge!" Shadow called out to the bat girl hovering above them. "Bomb his face!"

Rouge nodded and flew right towards the guard dog. It watched as she dropped a set of Heart Bombs around its head, howling in pain when they detonated. Yet the bombs didn't do much damage to break the plating.

Egg Cerberus, enraged at Rouge's pitiful attempt to hurt it, sent fire her way.

"Ah!" Rouge flew out of the way, but the Egg Cerberus followed her path of flight as it tried to burn her into a crisp. Growing tired from flying and needing to escape its line of sight, Rouge flew closer towards the guard dog's head, avoiding its fire attack. She grabbed on to the plasma rod sticking out of its head.

Facing Shadow, she yelled, "Any more bright id… Woah!" The Egg Cerberus began to jerk around while Rouge held on, adjusting her grip on the rod as the movement became worse. Eventually, unable to hold on anymore, she lost her grip and was flung into the snow near Shadow. The guard dog then shook its head as if to regain focus.

Shadow recognized what had happened instantaneously: When Rouge touched the robot's antenna, the dog reacted to her. It was a receiver of signals, most likely for when Eggman is present in the battlefield. If Shadow could reach the antenna, he could force it to do what he wanted, even if it was crashing into a wall.

As Rouge got up from the snow, Shadow explained his findings. She agreed with the idea, but warned, "The front's too dangerous, Shadow! Can you get around to the back?"

"I can. Keep him distracted in the meantime!"

"Oh, goodie! I get to risk being his chew toy!"

Shadow was already on the move before he could hear Rouge's sarcastic remark, keeping his eyes trained on the Egg Cerberus as he approached. Before he got close, the guard dog took off towards the other end of the area, jumping on top of the circular wall surrounding them.

As it eyed Shadow, the black hedgehog knew it was going to pounce on him like a cat, but Rouge caught its attention with a Heart Bomb to the head.

"Hey! Over here, Bite-o!"

The Egg Cerberus snarled and jumped towards Rouge's position on the ground. She moved out of the way as it landed with force. When it attempted to recover from its failed attack, Shadow took the opportunity to slide around the back, grind up its tail like a rail and, somersaulting over its back, grabbed onto its antenna.

The creature roared in pain as soon as Shadow took a hold of its sensor, running around aimlessly trying to shake Shadow off, yet the hedgehog stubbornly refused to let go.

Seeing her ally hanging on, Rouge shouted, "Shadow! Make him crash into something!"

Shadow struggled to make the Egg Cerberus move in the direction he wanted, almost getting thrown off a few times when the machine made a quick U-turn in the snow. "Ngh… Do what I tell you!"

Unable to resist any longer, the Egg Cerberus finally gave into Shadow's commands reluctantly, though it continued to fight as Shadow steered it straight towards the exit gate. Right before the guard dog hit the gates, Shadow at last let go and leapt over the gates as the Egg Cerberus crashed into them.

The black hedgehog landed in the snow, his back towards his opponent. As he looked back, he saw the Egg Cerberus still functioning, struggling to get up. The antenna, along with the rest of the protective layer that was on its head, were gone.

"Looks like that armor's gone," he told his opponent. The guard dog barked in frustration. Still undeterred, it charged once again at the black hedgehog.

But Shadow didn't waver. In fact, he smirked victoriously.

"Now it's my turn!"

Raising his right hand to his left shoulder and enclosing it, Shadow summoned an orange-yellow energy. Then, with a swift swipe back to the right, he unleashed a torrent of projectiles towards the Egg Cerberus' exposed skull.

"Chaos Spear!"

The balls of energy rippled across the Egg Cerberus' head like a current, damaging it enough to make it lose control of its limbs. It falls to the ground, defeated yet still active.

Shadow walked over to his opponent, seeing the anger in its eyes. Pulling out his pistol, he aimed it at the damaged interiors of the head and fired, putting the dog to sleep.

Rouge flew through the broken entrance and landed next to him. "Nice job."

Shadow gazed back at her and nodded. He then turned towards the mountainous terrain before them. "Let's go."

Rouge frowned. "Do you even know where to go?"

Shadow looked back at her, expecting her to elaborate.

"There's a teleporter outside the base that can take us to where I need to go. You can come with me, or you can take the long way back to HQ. Your call."

Shadow didn't care about which path he took. It would all lead to the same place.

Still, his mission was to rescue Rouge, who herself had a mission to complete. It was best to be efficient and go along with her idea.

Seeing Shadow agreeing to her suggestion, she took the lead as the black hedgehog followed behind her. But deep inside the object Rouge carried, a grave voice murmurs repeatedly after hearing the one who was responsible for his imprisonment, growing louder each time.

" _Shadow…"_

Yet no one heard him.


	15. Chapter 2 (Shadow)

**Chapter 2 (Shadow): Reunion via Ambush**

The teleporter radiated purple waves of energy to create an artificial warp hole for a brief moment before returning to its resting state; while it was active, two figures emerge from the other side of the energy vortex, landing on the metallic bottom of the machine unharmed.

As soon as the teleporter deactivated, Shadow and Rouge observed the room they arrived to. It was a small cube with a single entrance, completely enclosed in walls made of bricks and concrete. The floor surrounding them was cracked tile, having been worn out from erosion and pressure over time. The real outlier in the room were the computer terminals in front of them, branding the Eggman Empire insignia on their sides. A few wires connected the terminals to the teleporter Shadow and Rouge stood upon, and above the terminals was a large screen currently displaying a map. The two GUN agents moved towards the display to get a better look, but Shadow still had no idea where they were or what the map was of.

Rouge, on the other hand, knew all.

"Ah, Soleanna, the City of Water."

Shadow turned to her, his expression telling her he had no idea what Soleanna was and wanted her to explain.

Rouge sighed. _For one of GUN's best agents_ and _someone who has existed for more than fifty years, you would think he'd at least know some of the world's biggest countries and cities._ And yet, this was Shadow she was talking about. He may not be the most knowledgeable about everything, but he was more mature than most and focused on the task at hand.

If something was unimportant to his mission, there was little to no point in knowing it, let alone committing it to memory.

So, Rouge explained. "It's a constitutional monarchy outside of the United Federation – GUN has recently attempted to make a trade agreement with the country on behalf of the United Federation. The primary industries are tourism and crafting precision machinery."

Rouge took a moment to think of anything else notable about the country, then added, "I think there is currently an apple fest…" She stopped when she realized Shadow wasn't focused on her anymore; his attention had been caught by a portrait on one of the walls, showcasing a lavender cat in royal attire, holding a scepter of jewels that enamored Rouge. Yet, she managed to say "The current sovereign is Princess Blaze the Cat," before staring intimately at the painted gems.

 _My!_ she thought. _Where have you been all my life?_

Shadow continued to stare at the painting of Princess Blaze. For some reason, the solemn expression plastered upon her face held a hint of pain that resonated with him – it was as if she, too had experienced sorrow before.

Being a ruler, its bound to happen.

"Why does Eggman's base lead to an odd place like this?" Shadow finally asked.

Rouge shrugged. "How should I know? I just followed my orders and retrieved the item." As she said this, she pulled out the dark scepter she stole from Eggman. Shadow could still feel the darkness shrouding it. He told Rouge earlier that he only cared about the mission, yet deep down he was a bit curious about the scepter. Whatever it was, whatever it _does_ , it caught Eggman's attention, which usually meant something devastating would follow if they didn't do something about it.

"So, what now?" If Rouge didn't need his help any further, Shadow would head back to GUN and receive his next mission. Though Rouge knew Shadow wasn't one who liked to be kept waiting, it had been a while since they last saw each other. Even if he was standoffish at times, she enjoyed his company every now and then.

She wasn't ready to let their little reunion end this quickly.

"We await further instructions. I'll let HQ know I've acquired the treasure and that you're with me at the moment, but I may need your help later. Is that a problem?"

Shadow crossed his arms in contemplation. He knew right away that Rouge was stalling for lost time. It had been a long while since they last corresponded with each other. One part of him was telling him to focus on his job, but another part was saying to enjoy these small moments while they last. Besides, helping Rouge would still mean he was helping GUN, so there was no issue assisting her with one mission.

Unfolding his arms, Shadow replied, "None at the moment."

Rouge smiled. "Great! Let's get going."

As they exited, Shadow took a final glance at the picture of Princess Blaze before moving on.

* * *

" _Come in, HQ. This is Rouge, reporting in."_

" _Agent Rouge, this is HQ. Have you acquired the Scepter of Darkness?"_

" _Yes, thanks in part to Agent Shadow. We are both in the New City of Soleanna and are currently heading to my club."_

" _Very good. Sit tight while we prepare a drop-off site for the artifact."_

" _Understood. Rouge out."_

"…So, those two set off the security system at White Acropolis. I should have known. No matter. I suppose a proper reunion is in order for former 'comrades.' He he he!"

* * *

"There's a Club 'Rouge' in this city, too?"

"Mmh!" Rouge nodded. "I've decided to do a little branching out with my side business. It's been a while since you've been there, right?"

Shadow simply grunted at her question. Club "Rouge" is a casino located in Central City's Night Babylon area, an entertainment hotspot for tourists and locals alike. Sporting a pinball-theme, it was unlike most gambling centers in the world, yet the theme served to make it more popular as a result. Like the district itself, the casino bathed in iniquity.

 _No surprise, knowing who runs the joint,_ Shadow thought.

Rouge was referring to the time Shadow needed to rest from a fight with one of Eggman's sentry robots. It was perhaps one of the few moments Rouge had shown a sense of charity.

Even though at the same time, she was attempting to train one of Eggman's mechs in the ways of master thievery.

"At any rate," Rouge said, "We can stay there while we wait for further instructions." She paused for a moment. "Come to think of it, I suppose it's for the best. I've been needing to check in with my 'special helpers.'"

"Special helpers?" _That can't be pleasant for whomever Rouge was talking about._

Indeed, a smirk as sharp as glass was plastered across her face. At times like these, Rouge could be a devil, always creating trouble for others for her own pleasure. Shadow and Dr. Eggman were no exception either, given how she acted as a spy for GUN during the ARK incident.

As they continued to walk down the streets of Soleanna's New City, Rouge elaborated. "Let's just say a group of guys were a bit low on cash and had a string of bad luck; I offered them a way to make easy money."

"Do I even want to know what that is?"

"Don't worry about it! They each have different jobs based on their skills, and as grumpy as they are about doing labor for _moi_ , they're happy enough getting a paycheck at the end of the month."

The two went around the corner of the street onto the main road of the city, where the morning sun could be seen having finished its rise, marking the middle of the morning. The New City was enormous, perhaps matching the size of Central City. From the ground, the skyscrapers appeared as if they were endless. Despite their overwhelming presence, beneath the tall buildings were small vendors doing business with visitors and citizens.

As they passed by the townsfolk, they overheard some of the conversations.

"Did you hear about the attack last night?"

"Hear about it? I was there! Dr. Eggman captured the princess in one fell swoop!"

"What about that hedgehog who tried saving her? The blue one?"

"Oh, you mean Sonic the Hedgehog? I heard he was seen heading after them towards Wave Ocean."

"I pray he saves Princess Blaze. The Royal Guard doesn't seem nearly as competent after that attack."

Shadow and Rouge said nothing as they passed the humans gossiping. Once they were a clear distance away, Rouge commented, "It seems Eggman's been busy last night."

"Agreed."

"First the scepter, now the Princess of Soleanna…what is the good doctor up to?"

Shadow couldn't provide an answer for her. He, too was curious about Eggman's plan for world domination. He overheard the name of the artifact Rouge now possessed, the 'Scepter of Darkness,' a name that complemented the dark energy flowing from it, however basic of a name it was. Still, that alone gave him negative vibes. But kidnapping a princess? That was Criminology 101 – Eggman has done far worse in the past. There must be more to the princess or even this kingdom than was present.

It may also be possible that the Scepter of Darkness and the princess were linked in some way. Rouge's comment alone hinted at it, but Shadow would need to probe into it further.

 _ **Buzz buzz! Buzz buzz!**_

Shadow glanced down at his communicator. The alert was an urgent message on a crime in progress. He opened the channel to hear a GUN soldier speak.

" _Agent Shadow, orders from GUN. Thieves have stolen fuel from the Rimlight Corporation and are escaping along the highway. This fuel source is vital. Since you are in the area, a buggy has been prepared for you in the center of New City. You are to track down the thieves immediately."_

Shadow sent a message back. "Understood. I will head over now." Once he was done, he turned to Rouge. "We'll have to reconvene later."

Rouge nodded exasperated. _Of course GUN would have him do something in town._ She reached into her pocket and pulled out a business card. "Here. It has the location of the club written on it. I'll meet you there."

She watched as Shadow took the card, put it away and raced down the street. Even though he was new here, Rouge knew her silent companion would find his way around quickly. She then continued to walk in the direction of her club.

* * *

Blaze knelt down as instructed, her hands behind her head.

 _These past few hours have been unbearable,_ she thought. Not only has a complete madman attacked her country during the Festival of the Sun and taken her prisoner, but now he had her handmaiden and best friend, Cream the Rabbit, at gunpoint, along with the rabbit girl's cute Chao companion, Cheese.

And it was all her fault.

Cream and Cheese grabbed on to Dr. Eggman's air vehicle during the kidnapping event. Blaze noticed the two eventually, but believing they could free her she thought, with her powers she could at least get the three of them out of Eggman's battleship, the Egg Carrier. And they did, though their timing resulted in them being discovered.

Blaze had taken down a few of Eggman's military-grade robots before Cream and Cheese were captured by a large Egg Guardian from behind. Before she could attack, Eggman ordered the Egg Guardian to instantly murder the two hostages if Blaze continued to resist.

If she had told Cream and Cheese to stay behind in Soleanna, they wouldn't have gotten hurt. Now, all she can do is watch as the red-coated terrorist gave orders to a robot that looked remarkably similar to her would-be rescuer last night, albeit sharper and more terrifying in appearance.

She prayed that blue hedgehog ran off with the Chaos Emerald like she told him to.

Eggman's sudden rant interrupted her train of thought. "I don't care _if_ you think you could've finished him off, and we both know that wasn't the case! I gave you an order, and you will _not_ hesitate to follow it next time."

The Sonic-lookalike raised his gray fist at Eggman, uttering a few electronic beeps. How Eggman could understand such a language was beyond Blaze.

"Lest we forget how you locked me in a room on my own fleet? If you continue to defy me, I'll turn you into scrap metal!"

The blue robot silently growled, but slowly began to show obedience. Eggman smirked. "Good. Now, I'll have a squad take the GUN Jet Glider to this location…" Eggman pointed to a spot on a computer screen, which depicted a map. "…and once it is in place, you will send the message. When he arrives and takes the vehicle, send me a message and continue your mission. The next Emerald is located on Angel Island." Eggman turned to walk towards Blaze, but stopped and turning towards Metal Sonic, added "Oh, and while you're there, see if you can grab the Master Emerald from that knucklehead." He then continued his way over towards Blaze.

Blaze couldn't hear much of what Eggman said once he stopped yelling, but she knew it had to do with his plan for her. She glared at the fat man as he began to act cordial with her. "Now princess, surely we can come to an understanding?" He glanced at Cream and Cheese, who were currently being held hostage by a few Egg Gunners. "Seeing as these two mean a lot to you, I will make you a deal. If you continue to resist me, then I will have no choice but to take drastic measures against these two. But, if you offer no further resistance, then I will release them once we arrive at my base."

Blaze raised an eyebrow. "And when will that be?"

"We will have to stop in the Dusty Desert for a moment, so probably by nightfall."

Blaze contemplated the offer. There was no guarantee that Eggman would remain faithful to his word, but Cream and Cheese were in this mess because of her. She had to do whatever it took to get them out. At last she answered, "I want them taken back to Soleanna now, _unharmed_. If you do…" She closed her eyes. "I will cooperate."

Eggman remained unmoved for a moment. He then sighed as if in defeat. "I suppose that is fair." He motioned for the Egg Gunners to escort Cream and Cheese back to Soleanna. "But know this: my Badniks will keep her in their sights until we've reached our final destination. Should you attempt to break your end of the deal, they will mow her down into rabbit stew."

"And if you break your end, I'll boil you alive," Blaze retorted.

Eggman couldn't help but laugh. "Ho ho ho, you are a feisty feline, aren't you? Do not fret. I honor my agreements, one way or another. You, on the other hand…we'll have to see."

The doctor turned to walk back to the computer screen. "Now, I have some business to take care of at Soleanna's old, decaying castle. I will be leaving as soon as we set down, but remember our bargain…" He stopped and glanced back at Blaze one final time.

"…Princess."

* * *

Shadow brought the buggy to a halt in front of the club's entrance, a water fountain sending a few drops of mist in his direction. Since it was currently day out, the neon signs for the club were off, though business was open as early as seven in the morning.

Shadow would be let in regardless of what time it was.

The thieves were nothing more than a bunch of rookie criminals hoping to make a quick cash grab. Their escape vehicle didn't even have proper defenses against the GUN buggy's missile launchers.

"What a waste of time," Shadow muttered as he went inside the club.

To his surprise, Soleanna's Club "Rouge" split into two areas at the entrance: one to the usual casino, the other to a restaurant and bar, the latter of which was a new addition. He decided to hang left towards the restaurant. Upon entering the room, he was greeted by a familiar face. "Hello, welcome to…Woahoho, Shadow!"

Buzzing in front of him was a small, yet energetic bee. He wore a tuxedo suitable for the restaurant, which was somewhat ruined by the pilot helmet on his head.

Shadow simply greeted the bee with his name: "Charmy."

Charmy smiled happily. "So, _you're_ the guest Rouge spoke of? Are you on a mission for GUN? Can I help?!"

A large gloved-hand suddenly covered Charmy's face, smothering the rest of the bee's questions that quickly turned into complaints. The hand belonged to a large crocodile that also sported a tux, albeit he too wore an item that didn't fit right: a set of black headphones.

"Quit bugging him, Charmy!" The crocodile smiled at Shadow, a smile that many would drive people away due to all the teeth being sharp. "Heh, long time no see! Eh, Shadow?"

"Vector…and Espio, too." Shadow noticed the purple chameleon walking up behind Vector from the bar. He silently nodded at Shadow without saying a word.

 _The Chaotix,_ Shadow reminisced. If Shadow were the equivalent to an officer of law, the three people in front of him would be the private investigators. The Chaotix is a detective agency that operates on a free-of-charge guarantee if Vector deems the case is for a good cause, which made them a popular option for customers.

 _Why do I have the feeling…?_

"I take it you three are Rouge's 'special helpers?'"

Vector let go of Charmy's face and put his hand to his head. "Aw, Rouge told you, didn't she?"

"Only that a group of people low on cash were helping out here." An organization acting on chargeless charity meant no income from the customers. While the three typically take on cases for a good price, most of the time they either don't get paid or, because of Vector's big heart, solve the case for free. As noble as it may be, a lack of profit meant large debt.

Vector sighed. "Yeah, we've been evicted from our home for postponing our bills for too long. That landlord, I swear!"

Knowing Vector's disdain for his landlord, Shadow decided to change the topic before Vector went on a rant. "Where's Rouge? She and I have business to take care of."

Charmy beamed with excitement. "Ooohh, is it work for GUN?" Shadow nodded, prompting Charmy to address his comrades. "Hey guys, maybe Shadow could use our help. If we pull this off, GUN might hire us for big cash rewards!"

Vector shook his head. "It's none of our business, Charmy."

"Besides," Espio chipped in, "We shouldn't jump to conclusions. Shadow's assignment may not involve investigations."

"Aww!"

Vector was annoyed at Charmy's antics, but put the bee's behavior past him to answer Shadow's question. "Rouge is on the top floor. Take the elevator past the bar." He pointed to the set of metal sliding doors in the back of the restaurant. "If you do need us, though, the Chaotix are here for ya!"

Shadow was already walking past them towards the elevators.

* * *

" _Rouge, respond. I've set the rendezvous spot for the Scepter of Darkness drop-off at the old Soleanna castle in Kingdom Valley, in two hours."_

"Understood. I will wait for Shadow to arrive and head over."

" _Copy. I've also prepared the means to go to Kingdom Valley. When Shadow arrives, head to a forest cave at the outskirts of town immediately. There will be a GUN Jet Glider to take you there."_

"Yes, sir." With that, the transmission between Rouge and the GUN commander ended. Rouge slumped back in her chair, staring at the violet ceiling above.

At the top of Club "Rouge" was a penthouse exclusively reserved for her in the event she needed to stay in town. The original club in Central City was her permanent address, though here the thick smell of rose perfume and the jewel collection next to her bed made her feel at home.

Just then, a knock came from the front door.

"Come in!"

The door slowly opened, and entering the room was Shadow, as stern as always. Rouge smiled. "How was your mission?"

Shadow merely shook his head. "Nothing more than criminal wannabes."

"Well, Rimlight must've been happy to get their energy back."

Shadow scoffed at her statement. "The one who sent the job request rewarded me in person." Shadow held out his hand, revealing two small chips.

Rouge slumped her shoulders, disappointed the reward wasn't jewelry, yet she was inquisitive. "What are they?"

"Air chips. Apparently, you put them on a pair of shoes to dash through the air." As he said this, Shadow attached the chips to his Hover Shoes, which magnetically snapped into place on the sides.

Rouge chuckled. "Don't lose them, now. At any rate, your timing is perfect. I've just received the location for the GUN rendezvous point."

"Where's the rendezvous point?"

"It's the ancient castle of Soleanna, in Kingdom Valley. Apparently, GUN provided you with a Jet Glider for the trip. We just have to get to it first."

Shadow nodded and followed her as she left the penthouse area, went down the elevator and walked into the restaurant. The Chaotix were now at their posts: Charmy managing the entrance, Espio attending the bar, and Vector playing the piano. The kind-hearted crocodile stopped when he noticed Rouge passing by.

Rouge took a moment to speak to the three of them. "I'm heading out, boys. Don't slack off just because business is slow!"

Vector responded with a depressing little tune on the piano, his face clearly displaying annoyance. Espio and Charmy were much more reserved, although Charmy did display a gloomy vibe. The looks on their faces confirmed Shadow's suspicions: working for Rouge was not pleasant for people like them.

Not pleasant at all.

* * *

Metal Sonic maintained a decent distance and height from the forest cave concealing the Jet Glider. Having sealed off the entrance with a landslide created by one of his energy blasts, all Metal had to do was wait for the two GUN agents to arrive and head for their 'rendezvous' with GUN.

As he hovered in the skies above, Metal contemplated his current predicament. As a robot created to go face to face with his living doppelganger and learn from each experience, Metal always found himself on the losing end of his battles with Sonic the Hedgehog. Even with data captured from his friends and the Ultimate Lifeform, as the Metal Overlord, he still lost.

And because of his failure to kill Sonic that time, he was back under his creator's control, who had not forgotten about his creation's mutiny (and probably never will). As such, Dr. Eggman reprogrammed his vocabulator to only emit a series of beeps instead of words, as well as altered his neural interface to administer a painful shock should he refuse to follow orders.

But Metal Sonic had no regrets. He wasn't made to have regrets.

All that mattered was fulfilling his duty: kill Sonic by any means necessary.

Perhaps, in that regard, he could 'relate' to the Ultimate Lifeform. The black hedgehog was also made with a purpose, was he not? He is driven, calculating, and is willing to harm anything that gets in the way of his mission.

It truly was a waste that Shadow was no longer on Eggman's side. Perhaps, with some convincing, Shadow could have been persuaded to join him and together, they could finish Sonic off once and for all. But Shadow was a lost cause, having surrendered himself to serve humanity.

In doing so by choice, Shadow had shown himself as weak in Metal Sonic's eyes.

No matter. There were other ways to kill a rodent, and Metal would explore them all until he succeeded. As he watched Shadow and Rouge arrive and clear the rubble from the landslide, Metal alerted the doctor that the two agents had arrived. Upon doing so, he turned and flew off in the direction of Angel Island.

 _One day, I will show them I am the superior model,_ he told himself.

 _I will prove I am the_ real _Sonic!_

* * *

 _What a faraway place to set the extraction point._

Shadow held on to the Jet Glider as it zoomed above the crumbling architecture of Kingdom Valley, with Rouge perked above the transport vehicle. Despite being capable of flight, Rouge preferred not to waste energy traveling far distances for these types of situations. Shadow didn't care what she did as long as she didn't slow him down.

As they soared between the rocky cliffsides of the valley, Shadow couldn't help but feel something was off. First off, the location of the drop-off spot was far from the norm. Usually, a drop-off occurred within a town or a short distance from one so as to easily make the exchange easy for all participants. Here, the land was practically falling apart around them, and the rendezvous point was well beyond the norm for the distance traveled.

Secondly, as they got closer to the extraction point, it seemed as though Eggman's Badniks increased in numbers. There was no doubt the machines were attempting to retrieve the Scepter of Darkness, but it seemed odd that there were so many of them near the drop-off point. In the end, they were shot down by Shadow as he flew by, but it did nothing to quell Shadow's suspicions.

"We're getting close to the extraction point!" Rouge yelled through the wind. "Set us down near that bridge!"

Shadow saw the decomposing bridge Rouge was pointing to and set the Jet Glider to slow down and descend. Aiming for the circular platform of grass in front of the bridge, he turned off the Jet Glider's power as soon as his feet touched the ground. Once Rouge had jumped off the top of the glider, the two then proceeded to walk down the bridge towards the extraction point: the remains of what appeared to be a tower. From what Shadow observed while gliding over it, the upper floors were completely separated from the building – whether by decay or an attack, Shadow could not tell. All that was left were a few walls surrounding the outside and the bottom floor.

 _CRACK!_

"Woah!" Shadow stepped back in time as a chunk of the bridge fell off from the side; it hit the edge of the rocks below before splashing into the lake below.

Rouge stepped towards him. "You alright?"

Shadow took a quick breath in and out before nodding. "Let's keep moving."

Afterwards, neither of them said anything as they continued to cross the bridge. Upon reaching the other side, Shadow asked, "What do we know about this place?"

Rouge took out the Scepter of Darkness, readying herself for the extraction as they walked through the entrance of the crumbled tower. "This is Kingdom Valley. Long ago, there was a royal castle here."

As the two made their way towards the center of the extraction zone, they kept glancing around for any sign of GUN personnel, only to be concerned at the emptiness of the area. The only thing present were the lifeless support pillars, some of which were nothing more than stumps, like those of trees that had been cut down.

Though suspicious of the setup, Rouge continued. "The former king of Soleanna used to reside in this castle. But a major accident occurred 10 years ago, and no one's lived here since."

Shadow turned to her. "Accident?"

Rouge nodded. "I heard a prototype energy engine failed, which caused the accident. I think the name of the plan was…"

"The Solaris Project."

"…!" Shadow and Rouge knew that voice well, and began to scan the area. But there was no one in sight. Suddenly, in front of them, a machine hidden by a cloaking device appeared. It was a silver aircraft of technical precision, equipped with multi-purpose arms and a single seat. Standing up from that seat was a round man with a fat moustache. He fixed his blue-tinted glasses with his gloved hands before continuing. "It was an ambitious project named after their eternal sun god."

Rouge stood bewildered. "Doctor!"

Shadow was as surprised as Rouge, though he hid it well. But how did Dr. Eggman know? Checking his communicator, he tried to contact GUN HQ, only to be met with the scrambled sound of Eggman's laughter.

 _Now it makes sense,_ Shadow thought. _Eggman hacked our communications and sent us here._

Eggman smiled with false courtesy. "It's been a while, my dear Rouge. And of course, Shadow. Now, if you'd be so kind as to hand back the Scepter of Darkness you took from me."

Eggman touched a few buttons on his aircraft, the Egg Mobile, prompting the Egg Gunners still camouflaged to reveal themselves; he also activated the Egg Mobile's thrust engines, making the vehicle hover above them. Shadow and Rouge took in the number and placement of Egg Gunners surrounding them. This would be a simple fight, but given how Eggman was the one ambushing them, there may be more that what appeared.

"Rouge," Shadow whispered. "I'll keep them busy. Get out of here."

Rouge disregarded his order. "And let you have all the fun? We can take them all on!"

As if it heard her statement, the Egg Gunner near the entrance fired a missile at their position.

"Go!" Shadow screamed as the two of them cleared the blast radius. Shadow then rolled into a ball and spin dashed the nearest Egg Gunner, sending it crashing into one of the pillars. The Badnik next to him tried to attack, but Shadow teleported behind him and knocked him down, continuing this pattern with each enemy.

Meanwhile, Rouge flapped her wings to maintain an altitude above the Egg Gunners below. A few attempted to shoot her down, but she effortlessly dodged their Vulcan Cannon bullets, dropping a few bombs over them in the process. Satisfied with the heaps of scrap metal she created, Rouge began to make her way towards Shadow when something blocked the sunlight from above her.

"Surprise!" Eggman programmed the Egg Mobile's left arm to form a fist and smack Rouge out of the air.

"Ah!"

Shadow heard Rouge's cry and stopped his assault to find her plummeting towards the ground. The Scepter of Darkness had fallen out of her hand during Eggman's surprise attack, and was about to hit the ground alongside her. According to protocol, the mission came first.

Rouge's mission was to secure the Scepter of Darkness and drop it off at GUN.

Shadow's mission was to escort her. He couldn't escort her if she was dead.

Not that protocol mattered when it came to friends, anyways.

Shadow rushed over to where Rouge would impact the ground and went into a slide, catching her in the nick of time. Yet the Scepter of Darkness continued to fall.

Eggman clenched his head. "No…!"

 _Clink!_

The dark artifact bounced off the ground with force, sending a shockwave of electromagnetism around the area. The Egg Gunners immediately froze up, unable to continue their attack. Fortunately for Eggman, he was just inches outside of the shockwave.

Shadow rose from his position and cautiously walked over to inspect the small scepter. Rouge, slowly coming to, slowly got up and rubbed the back of her head, not aware of what just transpired. She watched as Shadow reached down to grab the Scepter of Darkness.

" _Shadow…"_

"Huh?" Shadow quickly retracted his hand. It was faint, but he was sure he heard his name coming from the scepter. The dark energy that he felt was getting stronger, and a black mist began to emerge from the artifact.

 _CRACK!_

Suddenly, a stream of black fog shot out from the Scepter of Darkness, shattering it completely. It stopped midair and came down to ground level, targeting the malfunctioning Badniks.

"It's not use!" Eggman panicked, moving the Egg Mobile away from the area. "Pull back, pull back, pull back!"

The fog knocked down each Egg Gunner surrounding Shadow and Rouge before rising up once more. It then circled back down, aiming at Shadow. Though Shadow tried to jump clear of where the darkness was heading, it changed its direction and swallowed him.

"Shadow!" Rouge cried out.

Shadow guarded his face at the sudden rush of mist. The energy radiating off of it was strong, akin to that of Chaos Energy. But to his surprise, the dark fog that engulfed him disappeared. He looked around to see where the mysterious dark stream went, but found nothing. Rouge, too, seemed to be at a lost until she noticed a strange phenomenon.

Noticing the anxious look on her face, Shadow followed Rouge's gaze and found her staring at his shadow. At first, he didn't understand what was wrong until it dawned on him: the sun was currently being blocked by clouds.

There was no sunlight, yet he had a shadow.

Shadow straightened up to test if the mysterious shadow as an illusion, yet sure enough it responded to his every movement. But then, the dark mist emerged at the tip of the shadow's head.

And absorbed it.

A sense of dread crawled down Rouge's back. "What? His shadow…"

Once the mysterious shadow had been completely swallowed by the mist, a figure emerged from the darkness. It was difficult to make out at first, but the mist soon died down, revealing a hedgehog with black fur and greyish-blue streaks.

But the shoes it wore, and the rings on its wrists. Even the way its quills were position.

The hedgehog looked almost identical to Shadow.

Shadow narrowed his eyes as his new doppelganger laughed in a deep voice. "Oh, how ironic fate can be! I would never have believed I would be resurrected through your shade! I thank you, Shadow the Hedgehog!" The hedgehog bowed before Shadow with respect, though the tone conveyed a sense of mockery.

Shadow took a step back. "Who are you, and how do you know my name?"

The dark figure remained motionless for a moment before letting his arms drop. He then slowly crept over to Shadow like a lifeless puppet. "I'm Mephiles. Mephiles the Dark. …What, did you forget me? I owe much to you, Shadow." The being called Mephiles, now inches from Shadow, moved his pupils to gaze upon him. The lizard-likeness of the green pupils unnerved Shadow, and he backed away as Mephiles raised his hand, forming a ball of dark energy.

By this point, Rouge was, in all honesty, terrified. In her life, she had nearly died in space and almost eaten by alien barnacles. Yet in a mere few seconds, Mephiles had topped all of that in his mannerisms. She stayed behind Shadow as he prepared for Mephiles's attack.

"Oh yes. What you gave to me, I now return to you!"

Mephiles's already devilish grin became sharper.

"A one-way ticket to oblivion!"

The ball of energy in his hand expanded over the three of them. Shadow felt his body becoming lighter, though it felt as if the darkness was pulling on him in all directions. And yet…

 _This feels like…_

Before Shadow could finish his thought, he noticed Rouge disappear behind him.

 _Rou…!_

And he, too vanished into the void, with Mephiles following suit.

From high above, Eggman nervously watched as the three disappeared before his very eyes into darkness. The breath he had been holding in instinctively finally came out. He groaned.

"Augh, great. Just…great."

The second half of Solaris' Wrath, Mephiles, was free, which complicated his plans further. Ultimately, Dr. Eggman sighed. He was, at the very least, grateful to not have undergone what Shadow and Rouge went through. "I suppose I can wait on Mephiles for the time being. He will be drawn to the Flames of Disaster, after all."

Content, Eggman set the auto-pilot to take him back to the Dusty Desert. It would be rude to keep the princess waiting any longer.


	16. Chapter 3 (Shadow)

**Chapter 3 (Shadow): Not Where, but When**

Shadow opened his eyes after being sucked into the dark void. Purple lightning crackled as he witnessed space cave in front of him. As he continued to fall towards it, he began to hear things – the voices of people, distorted by an unknown force, yet Shadow could make out portions of what they were saying:

" _How can we completely destroy…"_

" _It looks like a filthy rat has…"_

" _If you have time to worry…"_

" _Unless you complete your task…"_

" _So, what does this guy look…"_

"… _and then the world becomes its enemy."_

" _Even if you believe everyone in the world will be against you…"_

" _Shadow…"_

"Ah!" For a moment, Shadow thought one of the bolts of electricity hit him, only to realize his nerve was triggered by the unmistakable nostalgic feeling that last voice gave him.

"Wasn't that…?"

" _Shadow! Help me!"_

Shadow turned his head to see a figure closing in on him.

"Shadow!"

"Rouge!" Shadow held out his hand as his fellow comrade caught up to his position. When she took it, he yanked her down with all his might so that they were freefalling in parallel.

"Shadow, look!" Rouge pointed ahead to an image growing in front of them. It appeared to be a ground of rusted tile.

Shadow narrowed his eyes. "Get ready!"

Letting go of each other, the two agents twisted their bodies in unison to fall perpendicular to the image. As if on cue, they felt their bodies become lighter, the tugging sensation receding. The lightning around them began to vanish, and the environment began to fade into a blend of color and objects. A few seconds later, they were on the ground the image had projected, the dark ball of energy they emerged from vanishing.

It took them a moment to adjust their eyes after being shrouded with vivid imagery in that dark void, but Shadow and Rouge emerged from their landing positions and took in their surroundings immediately after. It was a hallway of some kind, yet the damage and decay hinted at the place being old and deserted.

Rouge noticed a broken window and gazed outside. "What is this place?"

Shadow walked over and examined the landscape. Molten rock formations took up most of the area, and lava flowed below. Perhaps they were near a volcano? One thing was for certain:

"It seems we've been teleported to another location."

They were no longer in Kingdom Valley. Their new location was quite the opposite, in fact. Even so, one piece of imagery wouldn't tell them any more than it already did.

Rouge glanced at Shadow. "Well, let's find out where we are." Once she saw him agree, she began to run in one direction to begin scouting. Shadow started to follow her, but stopped.

That feeling he felt from Mephiles's stunt. The void he found himself and Rouge in: distorted and dark as it was, there was no denying it. The event horizon was similar to his Chaos Control, but more… _loose,_ as if space and time were being stripped away in the process. The fact that Mephiles was able to pull off such a feat without a Chaos Emerald did not sit well with him. It was almost as though Mephiles truly was a doppelganger of himself.

 _Mephiles…Who is he?_

Shadow began to chase after Rouge to catch up, deciding to focus on the situation in front of him. He would worry about Mephiles later.

But a phenomenon similar to his Chaos Control – Shadow was beginning to feel as if he had a clue about their whereabouts.

* * *

As soon as Shadow had caught up with Rouge, he noticed she had slowed down to a near halt. Having arrived at a four-way intersection of corridors, he initially believed she was trying to decide on a direction. But the expression on her face indicated something more was on her mind. Trying to keep things moving, he asked, "What is it?"

"Hm? Oh, well…it's just…" Rouge took a moment to think, but then shook her head adding "Never mind. It must be my imagination." She pointed to the corridor to their left. "I think we should go this way."

Shadow followed her suggestion and began walking down the narrow hallway. Metal tiles hung from the ceiling as if they could fall at any moment onto unsuspecting trespassers below. To make the atmosphere any gloomier than it was at a glance, there was a particular odor in the air, like rotten eggs burnt in a microwave – Shadow recognized it as sulfur.

Rouge's random routing eventually lead them to a scorched door. Opening it, Shadow and Rouge found what appeared to be a terminal room. It was a stark contrast to what they had been seeing the past couple of minutes: whereas the corridors were rusted, unmaintained and odorous, the layers of stacked hard drives were, for the most part, clean (save for a couple of cobwebs). At the other end of the square room sat a large screen computer with a variety of buttons in place of a keyboard.

"Okay," Rouge said, "Freaky."

"What do you mean?"

She looked at Shadow with a concerned frown. "This place has a similar layout to Dr. Eggman's base in White Acropolis. I thought it was just me wanting to see anything that wasn't those corridors, but…"

Rouge glanced back at the computer and proceeded to walk towards it, her curiosity having now taken over. She turned on the ancient piece of tech, which didn't appear any newer than what they've encountered before; once it booted up, Rouge's fingers danced on the buttons before her as she hacked her way into the computer. A brief moment later, a small _Beep!_ quickly filled the room.

"I'm in…" Rouge declared. "Let me see if I can pinpoint our location. Ah, here we are! It's…"

Seeing the text on the screen, Rouge's eyes filled with disbelief. "No…that's not possible…we _are_ in the Doctor's base. But how can that be?" She turned to Shadow to see if he had an answer.

In fact, he already pieced everything together the moment she noted how familiar this place was to her. Add in Mephiles's teleportation ability and the similar energy utilized, and Shadow came to a rough estimate.

"There's no doubt in my mind. It's not _where_ we are…"

Upon hearing this, Rouge turned back to the computer and began searching for a new query. When the green screen displayed the result, she gasped in shock.

"It appears we've gone through time…doesn't it?"

Rouge nodded, slowly recovering from this revelation. "Yes…Approximately 200 years." She considered something, then added, "Maybe more, depending on when this database was last updated."

Shadow agreed and turned his head back to the screen. The images and text scrolling on the screen showcased cities around the world, news articles centered around something known as "The Day of Disaster." It may have been too early to reach any conclusions, but Shadow recalled how Mephiles referred to this place and time as oblivion.

Somehow, someway, Shadow _knew_ Mephiles was responsible.

The question is how?

Rouge sighed. "Well, at least we know we've arrived in the future. That means this Mephiles character has the power to control time."

Shadow turned to Rouge to confirm her deduction, having reached the same fact himself. "His power feels very similar to my own Chaos Control. But…"

 _There was something completely off about it, almost unnatural._

There were few ways one could travel through time. Shadow knew Chaos Energy was one thing, but he remembered a long time ago how Sonic once traveled to the past using 'Time Stones' as they were known to stop yet another of Eggman's schemes.

Mephiles, however, didn't appear to be using any objects to perform the ritual – even Shadow needed a Chaos Emerald to successfully pull off Chaos Control, let alone traveling through time 200 years. And yet, Mephiles did it with little effort, as if it were as simple as a magic trick.

 _Maybe…supernatural,_ Shadow contemplated.

 _Tssst!_

A faint sound of electricity echoed outside the room. Glancing at each other, Shadow and Rouge read each other's thoughts and agreed. If there was someone else here that may be of some help, now would be a good time to do so. They raced out of the room and through the corridors, tracing the electricity to its source. The zaps and crackles grew louder as they got closer.

And then it abruptly stopped, only to be followed by screaming and the sound of a collision of bodies against a floor. The two agents, taking caution, moved slowly so as to not startle whomever was ahead of them.

"Boy, do I feel dizzy…Where are we?"

Rouge's ears perked up; Shadow realized it, too. The voice they heard just now was familiar; it was young and high-pitched, like a child. Reaching the source of the voice, Shadow and Rouge found themselves in what appeared to be a control room with a balcony view of a cylindrical chamber. The glass separating the two rooms was shattered, the control panels fried. But it made no difference to the two as they approached the edge of the room. Gazing down from their viewpoint, Shadow and Rouge's eyes widened.

Below them were three individuals: a red echidna, a two-tailed orange fox (whom the voice belonged to), and a blue hedgehog.

Knuckles, Tails…and Sonic, respectively.

Rouge decided to make their presence known. "Oh, look who's here! I didn't expect to see you guys." The three heroes looked around the room until they found Rouge and Shadow. Tails said their names in surprise. Rouge simply waved. "Hi! Long time, no see!"

* * *

When the scanners returned the results, Dr. Eggman groaned. "Still nothing?"

Once the princess was locked away in her cell, Eggman wasted no time inserting the Chaos Emerald Metal Sonic brought back into the Egg Genesis guard robot at White Acropolis. As soon as the process was completed, he returned to his secret base beneath Kingdom Valley to continue his search for Mephiles.

Unfortunately for Eggman, he was only met with dead ends.

Mephiles had transported himself, Shadow and Rouge to another location; Eggman knew that much, but the question became where? He had hoped analyzing the area Mephiles stood would provide a trace or some trail to follow, but every one of his scans proved futile.

It was as if Mephiles had never been there to begin with.

At one point, Dr. Eggman shifted gears and tried to pick up on Shadow and Rouge – Shadow's inhibitor rings were full of Chaos Energy, and Rouge's make-up should have at least left some residue in the air.

Yet there was nothing. Even the G.U.N. transmissions failed to provide any hint at their whereabouts. As a matter of fact, it seemed he couldn't get a straight message from them anymore, hinting at the possibility they've updated their security system.

"Oh well," Eggman muttered. "At least I got what I needed from them."

He initiated another scan, this time for any trace of Shadow's hover shoes' rocket exhaust fumes. The scan returned negative, prompting Eggman to clench his head in irritation. "Why!?"

 _Whee Whee Whee Whee!_

"Huh?" Eggman heard the security alert from the Egg Mobile and, upon climbing inside, tapped the screen to see what triggered it. His mustache twitched.

"She escaped? Arrggghh!" This was not happening. This. Was. Not. Happening! Sonic was gone – who could possibly have broken Blaze out? Her cell was made specifically to hold her powers at bay! Accessing the security footage, Eggman soon found the answer…and himself at a loss for words. The security camera's showed Blaze fighting against his own drones. Assisting her in the battle was a pink hedgehog in a red dress, wielding a giant hammer.

"Amy Rose?" That…could explain how Blaze got out of her cell. "But why would she break Blaze out? How did she even know Blaze was locked up at my base?" It must've been a coincidence. Perhaps she was stalking her boyfriend and happened to come across Blaze's cell? Yes, that would make sense.

Either way, this was a problem. Eggman ignited the Egg Mobile and contacted Metal Sonic, ordering him to meet him at the Soleanna Royal Castle. He knew Blaze would head directly there, so it might be fitting to welcome her home with a surprise party. As he considered this, another security alert appeared on the screen.

"What?!"

Tapping the screen, the camera view changed to one of the mountain monitor cameras, which was covered in snow, forcing Eggman to switch to the White Acropolis SG-9 entrance camera. There appeared to be someone in white attacking his Badniks alongside a purple figure.

The doctor smacked his forehead. "I don't have time for this!" He sent an order to the White Acropolis Egg Genesis robot to deal with the intruders, then hit the accelerator.

* * *

" _Screech!"_

The fiery creature cried out in pain as the G.U.N. buggy turned it into road kill. Shadow, the merciless driver of the vehicle, coldly stated "You're in my way," and drove on to his destination with Rouge in the passenger seat. She looked as though she was going to puke from all the shaking and bumping on the rough terrain.

Back at White Acropolis, Shadow and Rouge informed Sonic and his friends of their current whereabouts and brought them to the remains of the kingdom of Soleanna. What once had been the City of Water is now a desolated metropolis of molten rock and lava. From what the three heroes said, Shadow was able to determine the three were sent here because of Eggman and a time machine he was developing – Shadow made a mental note to destroy that machine when he had the chance once this whole 'adventure' (as Sonic would call it) was over. For the time being, the group agreed to work together to find two Chaos Emeralds hidden at different sections of the city, which would be enough to induce a Chaos Control strong enough to open a portal through time.

 _So, I'm stuck working with you,_ Shadow bemoaned. _Don't slow me down, Sonic._

As far as opponents go, Sonic was the only one Shadow would consider a match, if only by a small amount. His natural speed rivaled the Mach speed of Shadow's Hover Shoes, perhaps even surpassing it, but as far as raw power was concerned, Sonic was no different than these creatures Shadow was mowing down with his vehicle.

A fire golem soon appeared in front of them as Shadow drove down the fallen remains of a skyscraper; firing a set of missiles at the beast, he finished it off as it staggered a bit by ramming into it with the buggy. The buggy bounced a bit upon landing, but Shadow maintained control and kept rolling along.

"Pull over," Rouge groaned weakly.

"Huh?"

"I said 'Pull over!'"

Shadow brought the buggy to a halt, and Rouge exited the car. She knelt known with her hand covering her mouth. Shadow sighed. _Guess there is no hurry._

While waiting for Rouge's stomach to handle, Shadow observed the ruined landscape surrounding them. A fair number of skyscrapers will still standing, if nothing else, but their windows were either shattered or cracked; many others had fallen over or were rubble now. The sky above them was shrouded in dark clouds, as if it could rain any moment, but Shadow was sure the rain would most likely be scorching to the touch. Even the small wind in the air burned like a stove.

As a G.U.N. agent – no, as a warrior – Shadow always kept him emotions in check. A long time ago, his head was filled with nothing but anger and vengeance, but he put that behind him. That, and his whole past.

And yet, seeing the world as it was before him, a sad frown formed on his face.

 _I failed, didn't I?_

"Ugh!" Rouge finally stood up and shook her head. It appeared she was able to hold down whatever nausea had built up, even though she still had a greenish look on her face. "Can't you drive normally for once in your life?"

By the time Rouge turned to face Shadow, all traces of regret were gone from his face, instead being replaced by his usual indifference. "Not like there's much road to travel on."

"That's besides the point." Rouge climbed back into her seat, and Shadow pushed the gas pedal.

Once he made it down to the other end of the building, he was able to reach a stretch of road blocked by multiple fiery demons. Charging straight towards them, he shouted, "Get out of my way!" He fired a barrage of projectiles to clear the path, though the remaining creatures blew fire from their mouths at them. The G.U.N. buggy was able to withstand a certain amount of heat and damage while shielding its passengers, so Shadow and Rouge weren't harmed so long as they kept their heads down. Once they made it through, it seemed to be a straight shot to their destination.

Except for the giant steel pipes blocking the road.

Shadow swerved to a stop to avoid crashing into the pipes, but now he had a new problem. Looking around, there was nowhere else to take the buggy but back the way they came. Obviously, the pipes were too large to lift, and the buggy couldn't keep taking hits and driving over rough terrain forever.

As useful as it was, Shadow had no choice but to leave the car behind.

Exiting the vehicle, Shadow turned to address Rouge. "We'll have to keep going on by foot."

Rouge slumped back in joy. "Oh, thank goodness. One more minute with this thing, and I'd need medical attention." She got out and joined Shadow in getting over the pipes to the other side.

* * *

The remainder of the path wasn't as broken up as the previous section. For that, Shadow and Rouge were a little grateful for. Occasionally, a group of the mysterious fiery creatures would appear, but Shadow and Rouge easily disposed of them when they did.

"Hmm," Rouge mused. "According to fox boy's coordinates, we should be nearing our destination."

Shadow nodded. Around them were a set of buildings that miraculously were still standing, despite their rustic and burnt appearance. If the Chaos Emerald was somewhere around here, it had to be in one of the buildings.

Trying to strike up a conversation, Rouge thought of something and addressed her partner. "Hey Shadow. Gems are made under great pressure and heat, right?"

Shadow glanced at her as he kept walking, showing that he was at least paying attention. She continued. "I wonder if there are any jewels around here. I mean, it must be a mine in conditions like this. I might be able to come home a little richer."

Shadow suddenly stopped. "You'll be home sooner than that."

"Oh? What do you…mean?" When Rouge turned to see what Shadow meant, she found a sight too horrible to believe. In front of them was what once was a casino of sorts. A broken water fountain brought a little grace to the ruined architecture, but it paled in comparison to the mess that was dangling signs and knocked over pillars. The largest sign was cracked in half, with only the right side still standing with the word "Rouge" imprinted on it.

Rouge fell to her knees. "No…"

Shadow crossed his arms. "This is the place." He didn't need to check the coordinates for verification. He _knew_ the Chaos Emerald had to be here. It was too much of a coincidence.

"Y-yeah." Rouge got back on her feet, as hard as it was to stand at the moment. Her business, her _home_ had been reduced to nothing, due to some disaster in the future. But she had to struggle through it. With luck, whatever caused the world to be this way would occur after she died. As cruel as it sounded, it gave her a little hope.

Rouge sighed. "We should split up. I'll handle the restaurant and the hotel. You search the casino." Shadow accepted the idea and headed to the casino entrance; Rouge went the other way to the restaurant. Upon walking it, she found the tables tossed, turned and straight-up split into pieces. The bar's racks of wine and champagne now replaced with shards of glass and stains. Rouge half-expected Vector or any one of the Chaotix to grumpily greet her to see what her next assignment for them was, but she knew none of them would survive two hundred years in a world like this. Making her way to the elevator, she pressed the 'up' button.

"No response. Figures."

Rouge opened the doors by force and flew up the elevator shaft to her apartment. If the Chaos Emerald were anywhere, her best guess would be with the rest of the jewels. Once she made up to the top level, she opened the elevator doors and strolled down to her penthouse entrance. When she entered the room, she was surprised to see the place well-intact. The electricity may have been out, but just seeing something familiar and undamaged was enough to make her feel better.

"Home sweet home," she silently proclaimed and walked over to her jewelry collection. Opening the cabinets and boxes next to her bed, she scavenged the whole area for the Chaos Emerald.

But there was no sign of it.

"Hmm…" Rouge hummed to herself. As a treasure hunter, she had a knack for knowing where to find jewels, especially when it came to gems such as Chaos Emeralds; the Emeralds had a particular feel to them that, when exposed to them long enough, you could pick up on the energy they contained when you were near. Rouge felt that energy near her collection, yet it wasn't with the collection.

No, it was behind it!

Rouge moved the large jewelry cabinet away from the wall, revealing a secret, impenetrable door of steel.

"What the…"

When it came to secret hiding places, Rouge couldn't deny she had plenty for her jewels, just as a precaution. But a secret room? Her future self must be hiding a grand collection of diamonds and otherworldly items for her to invest in such a thing. Seeing a control panel next to the door, she touched it; to her surprise, it responded.

"Look at that! There _is_ power after all," she remarked. The panel requested her G.U.N. credentials, which she entered in immediately. "Whatever's on the other side _must_ be valuable." Pressing the enter key, the panel confirmed her ID, and the door slid open. The room was pitch black, save for a glowing green gem in the middle.

"The Chaos Emerald!"

The lights in the room kicked on, brightening the rest of the room.

Rouge gasped in horror at the sight beyond the Emerald.

* * *

Shadow cruised around the entire casino, looking everywhere for the Emerald. The energy of the Emerald was faint, but he could feel it. Suddenly, the energy signal felt stronger.

"Shadow!" The black hedgehog turned to see Rouge holding the green Chaos Emerald and smirking. "I told you before not to underestimate me."

Shadow crossed his arms. "You couldn't radio me that you found it?"

"Er…" Rouge appeared to be struggling for words, but quickly came up with an excuse. "Well, I wanted to drive home my point is all."

That was a lie. Shadow could tell it by a mile, but he didn't bother to pursue it any further.

They acquired the Emerald; that's all that matters.

"Let's head to the meeting point," Shadow said and began walking out.

"R-right."

The two went out the back entrance and walked down the uneven street. As they walked, Shadow observed Rouge admiring the gem in her hand, albeit with a hint of sadness in her eyes. She noticed him staring and quickly smiled lustfully at the Emerald, complimenting it as if it were a person.

"Ah ha ha! My precious Chaos Emerald. You are all so beautiful. Your mysterious brilliance…"

Shadow turned his attention back to what was in front of him and stopped when he noticed something familiar.

Or rather, _someone_.

Partially buried in rubble near small fires was a large red robot. Its hands were claws, and the amount of plating on it gave the machine a buff look. On its left shoulder, engraved in the black metal was a red omega symbol.

The third member of Team Dark: E-123 Omega.

"Omega!" Rouge exclaimed. "Wh-what's he doing here?"

Shadow rushed over to behind Omega and carefully removed the plating to his main circuit board. Given his unresponsiveness, it was clear their old friend was offline to some degree, but maybe with a little circuit work, Shadow could get him up and running again. He moved a few smaller boards out of the way to find Omega's status display.

To his surprise, Omega was still online. However…

"It seems he's in standby mode."

 _If that's the case, what could he be waiting for? Was someone supposed to meet him or something?_ Unfortunately, Omega's status display didn't give a reason.

Rouge frowned. "What could have possibly happened to create this future?"

As the two thought about it, a series of beeps soon emanated from Rouge's communicator in her glove. She glanced at Shadow, who nodded for her to answer it.

She did so, responding, "Yes, this is Rouge."

" _Rouge. It's Tails. We're finished here and heading to the rendezvous point."_

"Understood. We'll be there in a minute." Hanging up, she addressed Shadow. "It looks like Sonic and his friends have found something, too. Let's go."

But Shadow continued to stare at Omega in silence. It was one of those rare moments with Shadow, Rouge knew, where despite his cold exterior, he did care about some things in life.

Regretfully, this was also a rare moment where she had to remind him to focus on the mission, the one thing she always wished he would lighten up about.

"It's not like we can do anything for him now."

Shadow looked at Rouge for a brief moment, then turned back to Omega. As hard as it was to see one of his few friends in such a state, they had to keep going.

"Yeah."

Moving away from Omega, Shadow began to walk in the direction of the teleporter to send them back to White Acropolis. Rouge began to follow him, only to stop and look back at Omega. Her eyes then shifted to the ground.

"Nothing we can do now..."

She wanted to tell Shadow what she uncovered in her penthouse, but she couldn't. For all they knew, this future may not be set in stone. And even if it is, how would he react?

No, it was better if Shadow didn't know about this. Not now, anyway. Same thing for Omega.

Turning back to the Omega behind her one last time, she silently said, "See you soon," then flew after Shadow.


	17. Chapter 4 (Shadow)

**Chapter 4 (Shadow): The Second Emerald**

The trip back to White Acropolis – 'Red' Acropolis would be more fitting now – was relatively quick. Aside from a few reptilian fire demons here and there, Shadow and Rouge somehow managed to traverse the ruins of Soleanna to the rendezvous point, all the while beating Sonic and company in terms of arrival.

It was one of the few times Shadow could smirk out of amusement. Even though Sonic and his friends chose to secure the Chaos Emerald furthest from the rendezvous point, the fact that the self-proclaimed "Fastest Thing Alive" couldn't arrive first was pure irony.

Still, the important thing was that they each got their respective Emerald. As soon as those three arrive, all of them could escape this barren wasteland of a future.

But Shadow wasn't completely satisfied by this outcome. In the time it took to acquire the Emeralds, not once had he encountered Mephiles, the one responsible for their being here. If Mephiles wanted to kill them by sending them to "Oblivion" as he called it, why not bother to make sure they died here? It didn't add up.

 _Perhaps he has business in the past,_ Shadow thought. _And if that were the case, if we were obstacles to his plans, sending us here would take us out of the picture._

It certainly was a possibility, but not a likely one. It didn't solve his initial question, and if he and Rouge returned to the past, Mephiles would have accomplished nothing.

 _What_ is _he after?_

Whatever it was, Shadow would have to ponder on it later. Sonic and his friends were approaching.

"You guys are _so_ slow," Rouge teased.

Knuckles snorted. "How about next time, you take the Emerald furthest from the meetup point?"

Shadow closed his eyes, slightly irritated by the exchange, yet he remained patient. The two groups have been reunited, so now the final step could be taken.

Tails interjected before Rouge and Knuckles made the situation any worse. "Did you two find anything?"

"Look." Rouge held out the Emerald for Tails and the others to behold, leading the fox boy to congratulate her. She smiled cockily. "Well now, I may not look it, but I'm a _real_ treasure hunter. Unlike a certain echidna I know."

"What?!" Knuckles stomped towards Rouge, staring at her like an angry bull ready to charge, but he thought better of it and retreated to his group's side.

Rouge had shown what they found. Now, it was Sonic's turn.

"Have you guys discovered anything?" Shadow asked.

"Um, yeah. We found a Chaos Emerald, but…" Tails started to explain, but he trailed off. He sheepishly stated in a depressing tone, "We kind of lost it."

"Really?" Rouge responded, baffled. "You _lost_ a Chaos Emerald?"

Even Shadow was surprised by this. If it were the doctor tricking the heroes and stealing the Chaos Emeralds, he could understand. But losing a Chaos Emerald in their possession, with no one else around? Shadow knew there was more to the story, but before he could probe further, Tails continued.

"It's a long story. But I know where to find another one. I received a signal indicating there's a Chaos Emerald here, but…well…" Tails pointed to the volcano in the distance. From the smoke rising from its crater, it seemed as though it would erupt again at any moment. As if on cue, the volcano spewed out a shower of molten rock.

"You mean we've got to go through there?"

Rouge was at a loss for words. Knuckles took the opportunity to get back at her. "If you don't like it, you can stay here."

"You've _got_ to be kidding!"

"Let's go." Shadow commanded bluntly to prevent any further delays. The others took note of his attitude towards their situation and followed suit.

 _What a waste of time,_ Shadow bemoaned. It was bad enough Sonic and his friends 'lost' the Emerald they were after, but now they had to search inside a volcano for one? It wasn't anything he couldn't handle, yet the mere fact that this is what it came down to really was disappointing. He expected better from Sonic.

And speaking of…

"Hey Shadow."

Sonic was walking behind him when he addressed Shadow. The GUN agent turned his head in response. "What is it?"

"We didn't exactly lose the Emerald."

"I figured as much." _I know you wouldn't have lost something as important as an Emerald without a fight. Our encounter at the Eclipse Cannon is proof enough._

Sonic seemed to acknowledge that fact and chuckled. "Heh, I'm sure. Anyway, we found where the Chaos Emerald was, but it was in someone else's possession. We didn't reveal ourselves, but we watched as he and two other people disappeared into the past with the Emerald."

 _He and two other people…_ Shadow contemplated on this scenario. It shouldn't be possible to go back in time with only one Emerald – there wouldn't be enough Chaos Energy to pull off the feat.

"…Is that so?" Shadow asked simply, yet behind his usual expression, a possibility occurred to him. A very concerning one.

"Y-yeah," Sonic answered, a little nervous. "But the thing is, he looked exactly like you."

"…!"

Shadow stopped walking as soon as he heard Sonic confirm his suspicions.

 _Mephiles…he_ was _here! Damn it!_ Shadow cursed in his head. Had he and Rouge gone to Sonic's location instead, they could have caught Mephiles right then and there. And yet, it seemed that fate had other plans in store for them. However, it may not have made much of a difference. From what Sonic stated, it seems Mephiles has two accomplices. Whoever they are, it did not bode good news.

 _What are you after, Mephiles?_

"You know him?"

Sonic interrupted his train of thought, which may be for the best. There would be time to continue investigating this matter later.

Shadow turned to Sonic and nodded. "Mephiles."

"Huh?"

"His name is Mephiles. He's the reason Rouge and I are here in the first place."

"What?" Tails overheard the two of them talking and chimed in his shock. "Why would he do that?"

Shadow shook his head. "I'm not exactly sure, but I do know this: he is able to move through time without the use of a Chaos Emerald."

"How is that possible?" Knuckles also appeared to have taken an interest in the conversation, as he asked a question immediately after Shadow's statement.

"I don't know. It's possible that, like me, he can use some Chaos Energy." _Or at least a darker variation of it._

Rouge, knowing the information Shadow was relaying to Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, walked a little ahead to get a good look at the path. Having taken a couple of steps away from them, she found a problem that required Tails's assistance.

"Hey guys! We've got a problem. The path splits in two. From the looks of it, both lead into the volcano."

Rouge couldn't truly ascertain that was the case, yet both roads did appear to lead up to the mountain-sized lava fountain. "Which way do we go?"

Tails and Knuckles joined her at the fork. Once he got a look in for himself, Tails pulled out the C.E.T. and messed around with it, but it seemed he was having trouble.

"I can't get a lock due to the weather! Looks like we'll have to split up again."

Knuckles grumbled. "Great."

Rouge analyzed both paths before them. The left path was a downhill trek to the bottom of the volcano, whereas the right path almost zigzagged at their level. Either path would most definitely take them to the volcano, and without knowing where exactly the Emerald is, it didn't matter which path each team took.

So, Rouge just picked one. "Shadow and I can take the left road."

"So, Tails, Knuckles, and I get the right? Sounds good to me!" Sonic and Shadow had finally joined up with the group.

Tails nodded. "Alright then! Whoever finds the Emerald will call in so the rest of us can meet up."

Sonic turned to face Shadow and waged his finger. "Don't be late!"

Shadow walked past Sonic with indifference. "Same to you."

* * *

 **System Reactivation Countdown Ended. Confirmed.**

 **Boot-Up Sequence Commencing. Confirmed.**

 **External Access Now Permitted. Confirmed.**

At the back entrance of the partially-destroyed Club Rouge, a red robot began to click and move from its sitting position. Its eyes began to glow a crimson red, and it stood up without delay.

" _Start-up complete. Locating signal of GUN agent Shadow._ "

A series of images flashed before the robot's eyes, each image a GUN agent that was confirmed as lost or deceased. Eventually, Shadow came up and the robot locked in on his location.

He was on the move in an area near White Acropolis.

" _Location confirmed. Mission: 'Shadow Support' initiated._ "

Once the last of the diagnostics checked out, Omega left the area in pursuit.

* * *

Shadow and Rouge raced along the narrow path downward, towards the bottom of the volcano. Overall, the path had been easy for them. Occasionally, the fiery lizard creatures would rise up from the ground or jump out of the lava flowing around them, but they were no match for Shadow and Rouge's combat skills.

Eventually, the duo found themselves facing a cavern entrance leading into the volcano. The stalactites surrounding the opening made it appear as though the volcano was a living being, ready to swallow them whole. Another eruption shook the ground and brought another shower of molten rock raining down.

 _The crust's energy is out of control,_ Shadow noted. _Is it because of the Chaos Emeralds?_

The Chaos Emeralds are like magnets: when they are closer to each other, they give off attractive forces. Since Shadow and Rouge possessed one of the Emeralds, it must be calling out to its sibling.

"It's erupting…" Shadow yelled. "Let's go!"

The two agents rushed inside to avoid the falling rocks. The environment grew darker as they moved away from the entrance. For a while, only the purple crystals embedded in the walls of the tunnel. After running in silence for a few minutes, an orange glow could be seen at the other end.

When the two reached the end, they found the path enclosed by lava rivers below, providing them with adequate lighting. In addition, purple torches burned along the both sides of the entrance.

Rouge frowned. "Which way do we go?"

The road before them branched off into different areas and tunnels. No doubt this volcano has had enough eruptions for the lava to make a labyrinth inside of it.

Shadow held out his hand. "Let me see the Emerald."

Rouge handed it to him, and he held it close. If the Chaos Emeralds are capable of calling out to one another, then surely sensing the energy at this range would help Shadow find the path.

"…Got it. It's this way." He pointed at a path to their right, which lead to a higher area. Rouge nodded and followed him.

Once they reached the higher level, they traveled down a series of tunnels and paths branching all over the place. Rouge almost asked if Shadow knew where they were going, but thought better of it.

 _We're getting closer…_

Shadow continued to concentrate on the energy readings, but he stopped. He felt tremors in the ground.

 _Another eruption?_

 _CRACK!_

"Huh?"

Up from the ground rose an orange…no, _purple_ worm monster. Shadow felt a difference in stats compared to the previous creatures they had encountered so far. This thing didn't have fire powers; instead, Shadow recognized the dark energy emanating from it as the same energy Mephiles utilized.

"Get out of my way, or you're toast!" Shadow growled.

The worm screeched at Shadow's threat. Its mouth began to glow with light.

"A laser attack!" Rouge warned. "Look out!"

The two rolled out of the way as the worm shot a beam of energy towards their previous position. The area became scorched with black and purple.

Suddenly, more tremors resonated all around, this time with more ferocity.

 _I can't let down my guard!_ Shadow instructed himself.

 _BOOM!_

A portion of the ceiling directly above the worm came crashing down on the worm, crushing it into black dust. From the smoke of the debris were pieces of rumbled. However, there was something more hidden in the dust.

Shadow and Rouge glanced at each other, then slowly approached the area.

The smoke began to clear up, and the image of three heroes on top of one another came into view.

 _Nice entrance…_

"Hi," Rouge remarked. "Dropping in?"

Knuckles, being at the bottom of the pile and in a sour mood, grumbled.

Sonic, in the middle, asked sheepishly at Shadow, "Were we late?"

Shadow raised his eyebrows, confused. He then remembered their small exchange before they parted ways and close his eyes and smirked.

 _Right on time, I suppose._

He offered a hand to Sonic after Rouge helped Tails off of him. Sonic took up and pulled himself up.

Knuckles, being the stubborn one, got up on his own.

"Sonic, we are _not_ doing that again."

Shadow walked past the three as they exchanged looks at one another. "I can feel the Emerald. We're very close."

The two groups, now reunited, walked into the next room. The entire room as one giant dome with stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Below their position, a giant pool of lava flowed out towards the different areas of the volcano.

This was probably the largest section of the cavern – it must have been the heart of the volcano itself.

Yet hovering above them was the other mystical gem they had been seeking: the cyan Chaos Emerald.

Rouge took off the ground and flew towards it.

"I found a Chaos Emerald!"

"DON'T TOUCH IT!"

* * *

Hidden above the heroes on a walkway, Mephiles witnessed Shadow and his party meet Iblis for the first time.

It wasn't as grand as they could have had it. Earlier, Iblis was drained from a fight with a silver hedgehog and the cat princess who once held Iblis imprisoned inside of her. Had they arrived earlier, Shadow and his team would have had a more difficult opponent to defeat.

Even so, watching the two hedgehogs fight against Iblis in a weaker form while hopping across platforms is most entertaining.

Especially Shadow.

Mephiles studied the one who _graciously_ gave him his freedom and form with interest. After he was freed from his imprisonment, Mephiles was quick to send Shadow and his partner to this desolate paradise. Having absorbed Shadow's own shadow, Mephiles could glimpse into Shadow's past, the pain and suffering he endured.

The rage he took out on others.

Now, Mephiles could understand Shadow's conviction and determination, as well as why he sealed him long ago.

Or _will_ seal him, to be more accurate.

An idea began to form in his head, one he had not considered after all this time.

"It may speed up the process…" Mephiles said to himself.

Once the heroes landed the final attack against Iblis, Mephiles was unfazed by Iblis's pain as the beast retreated into the lava on the other side of the cavern. Now that his other half has calmed down, Mephiles could approach him to acquire what he came here for.

And he now knew the best spot for it.

* * *

"Chaos Control!"

Shouting in unison with the Chaos Emeralds raised towards each other, Sonic and Shadow succeeded in the space-time rift ritual as a blue portal appeared before the group. One by one, everyone jumped in. First Sonic, then Tails, followed by Knuckles, and finally Rouge.

Shadow was about to jump in after them, but stopped right at the edge of the portal.

He heard him.

He _felt_ him.

Turning his head, Shadow saw a medium orange flame flickering on the rocky ground. Right next to it, almost touching it was a black mist of smoke. Rising from the smoke was a familiar figure who, for a moment, stared straight at the flame before him. His hands were hovering over the flame, akin to a camper warming up from the cold.

The figure turned to face Shadow, acknowledging his presence. As if on cue, the flame before him burned brighter and larger than before.

 _Mephiles!_

Shadow gazed upon his doppelganger and mulled the situation over. At any moment, the portal would close; he needed to jump through to return to his present.

But if he left now, an opportunity to confront Mephiles would be lost. And Rouge's mission was to retrieve the Scepter of Darkness and hand it over to GUN. The little wand was gone, yet if Mephiles was what they were after, then Shadow couldn't let him get away.

Especially since he was responsible for him and Rouge ending up in the future.

Shadow turned the rest of his body away from the portal and rushed towards Mephiles. The portal closed without him.

* * *

The portal opened in front of the Clocktower stationed nearest the Royal Castle in Soleanna's Castle Town.

Rouge landed gracefully on the tiled ground below. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply.

Salty seawater air. And the sound of tourists.

"Ah…" she exhaled. "Back at last."

 _At least the travel back in time was nicer that the other way around._

When the portal closed behind her, she looked up at the Clocktower for the time. It was only nine in the morning. As a precaution, Rouge checked her communicator for the date.

"Hmm. Looks like we lost one day…Shadow?"

Rouge looked around her, but found no trace of her partner, nor Sonic and his friends. While she was certain the three heroes were alright, it was Shadow she was more concerned about.

"Shadow!"

But he was nowhere to be seen. A few pedestrians began to look at her, while others were already staring from a portal opening out of thin air.

Rouge then heard the familiar chime of a Chaos Emerald. Glancing at the ground, she saw the green Emerald they had collected in the volcano. She knelt down and picked it up.

"Shadow…And he doesn't have a Chaos Emerald anymore…"

She realized what had happened immediately. Shadow would never throw away a Chaos Emerald if one presented itself – it would be like rejecting a free sample of food. She noticed at the last second before she completely entered the portal that Shadow was looking at something, but she wasn't able to see what it was.

 _He must have decided to stay behind to investigate. Unbelievable!_

"And after all that trouble, too!"

Shadow had a knack for taking matters into his own hands; it was one of the few characteristics Rouge both admired and hated about him.

 _Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Rouge's communicator went off. Despite her situation, she answered immediately.

" _Agent Rouge?_ "

It was Commander Tower.

"Yes, Commander?"

" _About time. We were starting to grow concerned when you didn't answer for a whole day._ "

 _I'd imagine so,_ she thought.

" _Report your status immediately. Have you retrieved the Scepter of Darkness?_ "

That's right! The Scepter that Mephiles was trapped in. It had shattered during Eggman's ambush. The Commander won't be too thrilled to hear that little detail. But that had to be a conversation for later.

"Well…I'll provide a full report shortly. Right now, I have a priority situation to deal with."

Rouge needed to help Shadow get home any way she could, but she preferred not to go back to that wasteland of a time.

However, she had another idea in mind.

"I need to contact E-123 Omega immediately."

Omega was waiting in the future for something. It may be a stretch, but perhaps that something was an assignment from Rouge herself.

" _Understood. Sending coordinates now._ "

"Much obliged. Thank you."

Rouge ended her transmission and slumped her shoulders. Her plan would work, she knew that much. However…

* * *

" _The Chaos Emerald…Ah!"_

 _Before Rouge lied a large machine, humming softly albeit roughly. At the center was a diamond-shaped case of glass, engraved with a glowing hot pink hexagonal pattern. Inside the case, arms extended to the sides was…_

" _Shadow?!"_

 _The black hedgehog did not respond, instead continuing an endless slumber. Rouge started to back away, but curiosity got the better of her and instead moved towards the chamber…or rather, prison. There was a plaque attached to the side:_

" _Containment field for the Ultimate Lifeform, Shadow. Shadow ruined this world and is being contained for the safety of humanity. DO NOT MESS WITH THIS MACHINE!"_

 _Rouge read the plaque's contents in disbelief._

It can't be true…huh?

 _Her eyes noticed a final line at the bottom of the plaque; it was crudely engraved there by someone._

"' _A tragic hero, still remembered fondly by those who cared.'"_

 _Rouge had a feeling she was the one who wrote this and fell to her knees. Her hand rested on the bottom of the case._

" _Shadow…"_

* * *

Rouge shook her head, clearing the disturbing memory out of her head.

"There's no way Shadow would be responsible for that future. I'll prove it! But first…"

The coordinates finally came through. E-123 Omega was patrolling the Soleanna Forest at the moment.

"I have to get Shadow home."


	18. Chapter 5 (Shadow)

**Chapter 5 (Shadow): Determining Destiny**

A true treasure hunter knows no boundaries when it comes to hidden gems and locales. If there was a buried treasure chest on a deserted island, find a boat and grab a shovel. An ancient pendant at the bottom of the ocean? Scuba diving lessons are available.

A walking arsenal patrolling a tropical jungle?

It may not be something she could put on a shelf, but since it is important to her, Rouge will find it. Friendship _is_ technically considered a treasure, after all.

Even though she would prefer the chest or pendant.

Checking her position on her mini-map every now and then, Rouge cautiously made her way towards Omega, who was constantly moving along a given route.

It – or rather, he – was the strongest member of Team Dark besides Shadow. Originally created by Dr. Eggman to contain Shadow in a sealed pod for cloning, his abandonment by the doctor led him to join her and the then-released Shadow on a mission to find and defeat the arch-nemesis of ol' blue boy.

All thanks to her knack for persuasion.

Hearing the familiar _thuds_ of Omega's large footsteps, she climbed up the column of a nearby arch to locate the source. Just a few meters away on a grassy platform, the red behemoth was slowly strolling along.

 _He's so cute when he isn't destroying everything in his path._

Chuckling at her own joke, Rouge flew from her position over to him and approached him casually on foot.

"This is a charming little place."

Omega turned to face her, his body's servos humming at the change in his position.

Rouge smiled and waved. "Hi, long time no see."

" _Rouge."_

Omega lowered the top half of his body to look directly at Rouge. After a moment of silence, Omega slowly lifted his right hand and waved, then quickly returned it to his side.

" _Accessing 'Mission Assignment Database.' Found. You were assigned to retrieve the Scepter of Darkness from Doctor Eggman. Do you need help destroying Eggman's worthless consumer models?"_

 _Still can't get rid of that line, huh?_

As limited as Omega was in terms of communication skills, he was still nice to be around every now and then. And he has been improving, to say the least.

"No, I don't need help with that. However, I am going to need your help with something else."

Rouge carefully explained what had happened to her and Shadow after Mephiles was freed, their time in the future, and Shadow's decision to stay behind. Omega listened to every word of Rouge's story with a blank stare until she finished.

" _Situation understood. What would you like me to do?"_

Rouge pulled the Chaos Emerald out of her pocket and held it out to Omega. "Take this, and deliver it to Shadow two hours after the exact date and time I mentioned earlier. Stay in Club Rouge's Casino guest room for now."

Rouge prided herself in remembering the time and day she found on Eggman's computer in the future. Looks like it came in handy this time.

She also assumed that it would be chaotic when the end of the world came, so she didn't want Omega to get heavily damaged, nor did she want him to be seen. If that future came to pass, she could always move him later.

A slight wind blew in the jungle, the grass whistling beneath the two. Crickets and frogs were heard all around, making the jungle feel more and more alive.

Omega reached out to grab the Chaos Emerald. His silver, sharp fingers reflected the greenish glow as they made contact with the gem. He then straightened his body and opened the protective glass plate in his torso, which allowed access to his inner workings. A rectangular case extended out of his body, and he placed the Chaos Emerald inside; it then returned to its original position, and the glass plate closed firmly.

" _Chaos Emerald secured. I will conceal the energy emissions for extra security."_

Omega's body hummed for a moment, then became silent.

" _Energy emissions concealed. System reactivation countdown initiated. Backup power source and spare magazines secured."_

His arms rattled through his ammo supplies, then hissed when done. Rouge put a hand to her hip smiling. It may not have been much, but she knew deep down this would help Shadow in some way.

" _Command program priority changed. New mission: Shadow Support. External access no longer permitted. Confirmed."_

Rouge gave him a wave goodbye. "I'm counting on you."

Omega slowly gave a thumbs up, then turned around and left.

 _He still has a way to go, but he's definitely become more social. If only Shadow were as easy to change as Omega._

* * *

"Mephiles!"

Shadow called out his target's name as he followed in hot pursuit. Mephiles had transformed himself into a black mist upon seeing Shadow and flew away in swirls and corkscrews. When it appeared he had stopped, Shadow rushed into the mist only to be met with nothing. He slowed down to a halt and checked his surroundings.

His eyes settled on the blue-stripped doppelganger, standing atop a stalactite embedded with a purple marble sphere on top.

Mephiles smiled, raising an eyebrow. "So, decided to void your return ticket now, did you?"

The tone in his voice told Shadow he was delighted at Shadow's decision to stay, something Shadow expected. The way he glanced at him earlier was an invitation for trouble, a trap that Shadow saw coming and still took the bait.

If this was the time for answers, better to do it now.

"Why are you here?" Shadow pointed, narrowing his eyes. "Did you ruin this world?"

"The answer's yes and no."

Shadow stared silently at Mephiles, expecting him to clarify. He wasn't in the mood for riddles.

"Perhaps it's better to show you."

Closing his eyes with an almost somber tone, Mephiles snapped his left fingers. Immediately, a black mist cloud appeared in this air, swirling around slowly as something else appeared within it. When the cloud dissipated, Shadow could make out what was inside.

There, in a diamond-shaped pod, was himself.

"…!"

"Yes, that's you." Mephiles, who had turned his eye to stare at the pod, looked back at Shadow and explained. "After the world was devastated by Iblis' flames, what do you think happened?"

 _Iblis…_ Shadow could've sworn he saw that name somewhere.

 _That's right…the doctor's computer!_

The doctor's computer had a series of articles from the past concerning the 'Day of Disaster.' Shadow had merely skimmed a few lines, but he remembered a fiery demon that was mentioned.

The one called Iblis.

 _Was that what Sonic and I faced earlier?_

All these things came into view in his mind, but Shadow continued to listen to Mephiles.

He couldn't afford to miss a detail.

Mephiles continued without delay. "A search for the guilty. 'Who did this?' you may ask. Humanity wasn't just jealous of your power. They feared it. They used this incident as an excuse to hunt you down."

Mephiles let the revelation sink into Shadow. Knowing that Shadow promised to protect the world – ironically almost destroying it _twice_ – hearing this might make him reconsider his allegiance.

As expected, Shadow looked away, his eyes to the ground. _The world goes to hell, and I'm to blame?_

It was true he had made mistakes before. The first was his quest for vengeance for the death of a friend and the raid on his home, a quest that nearly resulted in the Earth being destroyed. Once he remembered an old promise, however, he sacrificed his life to save it.

The second time was the Black Arms invasion. At that point, he was suffering from amnesia, yet the fact that he almost sided with the aliens and had the blood of their leader only painted a darker image of him.

 _I was also put in with the Black Arms when that started, wasn't I?_

It seemed no matter what he did, even if he tried to show the humans of this world that he is atoning for his past misdeeds, they would never forgive him.

Mephiles extended his hand out, his expression becoming serious. "Come with me, Shadow. Let us punish this foolish world of humanity. It is only fair to give back what was intended for you. You have every right to want justice."

Shadow closed his eyes. It was a tempting offer: why help the humans who stole everything from me and continue to treat me as an enemy? Professor Gerald felt the same way, hence why he altered Shadow's memories to make him desire revenge.

 _Even my creator used me as a tool in the end, didn't he?_

And yet, the more Shadow considered it, the more he remembered why he protected humanity. However cruel and gullible humans can be, there are good ones out there. Even the non-humans were the same: some would choose a life of modesty and charity, while others pursued selfish desires and anarchy.

If Shadow acted Mephiles' offer right now, knowing Mephiles had already sent him with ill intent, would what he be seeking really be called 'justice?'

Shadow opened his eyes with resolve. "That's absurd." He turned back to face Mephiles. "Whatever it is you want to do, you can do it alone."

Mephiles frowned, gesturing to the dissipating future before Shadow. "You forgive humanity this folly then?"

Shadow shook his head. _No, that's not it._

He clenched his right hand into a fist. "I determine my own destiny."

"…such foolishness."

In a flash of light, Mephiles transformed his appearance before Shadow. His body still resembled Shadow's, but instead of fur it was covered in part by purplish rocks and cracks. His color tone had also changed, becoming more orchard until the tips of his quills and legs, which faded into blue and then purplish-white. His pupils remained that lizard green, yet the sclera was now red.

Most disturbingly, Mephiles' mouth had vanished altogether.

Shadow lowered his body and kept his hands firmly loose at the sides. He couldn't underestimate his opponent this time around.

Shrouded in black fog, Mephiles summoned forth an army of small, black demons with one red eye and large three-fingered hands.

"Let's see if you can _entertain_ me."

Mephiles vanished into the black fog, which then dispersed rapidly within the area. Shadow covered his face with his arms to withstand the pressure; when it resided, he found no trace of Mephiles.

Just the eerie laughter of his minions.

They flew towards Shadow and attempted to grab ahold of him. He took out his pistol and began firing back at them, each of them disappearing into mist. He soon ran out of bullets.

"It doesn't matter how many of them you defeat, you know."

Upon hearing Mephiles' chilling comment, Shadow turned around trying to locate the source to no avail.

 _Where are you?_

"…!"

It hit him. Mephiles was a crafty individual who played with illusions and deceit. It was just as it was back in Kingdom Valley when he suffered a similar maneuver by Mephiles.

One that took Shadow's shadow and made a form to walk around in.

Shadow looked back on his own shadow, only to find Mephiles' silhouette grinning back at him.

One demon grabbed onto Shadow's arm, and Shadow instinctively punched it off. Another tried to secure his leg, and Shadow kicked it off with his other leg.

Like a hydra, however, the more demons he destroyed, a multiple of them returned to make things worse. Soon, his whole body was getting swarmed with the creatures. They pinned him to the ground and covered him in darkness.

Mephiles laughed as Shadow fell.

"Nooo!"

* * *

" _Behold, the ultimate power!"_

" _Those heartless humans! Get out of my way!"_

"… _why was I created?"_

"… _for the people of this planet…I promise you…REVENGE!"_

Shadow opened his eyes, his body completely tensed up. In front of him was something very blue and large – it almost took up his entire field of vision.

 _What happened? Did I…die?_

Putting a hand to his chest, he felt his heart racing.

 _Guess not. Wait…this view…_

The more he stared at the blue thing in front of him, the more details he began to recognize. There was green and white mixed into the giant sphere, and it was surrounded by black. The black itself also contained an assortment of white and red dots.

It was a shiny marble contained in a black void.

"The Earth…"

Shadow knew of the planet in view behind the shatterproof, airtight glass window in front of him. He had read about it, watched documentaries; he had even heard stories from other people about the world and what went on down there.

"Urg…"

Shadow put a hand to his head. A massive headache crept up out of nowhere and took him by surprise.

It was strange. He had never been to the Earth before, and yet it felt as though he's spent many months on it. Painful months.

On top of that, he had this nagging sense to fight back against something, almost as though he was in battle with someone for his life and he was about to die.

And yet, here he was – here he has always been.

On the Space Colony ARK.

"Shadow?"

"Ah!"

Shadow's muscles immediately felt a shock by his nervous system at the sound of that soft, angelic voice. Shadow quickly turned around to find the owner of that voice and stood awestruck.

She was slim, light-skinned and youthful. Her wavy hair, once a dark blonde that shinned like the sun, was now a bit softer in tone, yet still held back by a blue headband, a blue that complemented her dress. Her eyes were one and the same as the Earth's oceans.

The frailness of her body, hinted at by her malnourished, bony structure, indicated she was ill. Shadow knew the disease she contracted to be Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome, a disease both incurable and inevitably fatal.

This was the granddaughter of Professor Gerald Robotnik.

"Maria…"

Maria smiled tenderly as she walked towards him. "The world looks much bluer today, don't you think? …Oh, Shadow. You're crying!"

Wiping the tears from his eyes, Shadow shook his head. "I…I don't know why that happened. It just feels like I haven't seen you in a long time."

Maria giggled. "We just saw each other a few hours ago."

"…yeah."

 _Why is this so painful?_ Shadow wondered. _It feels like my memories are all twisted inside my head. Maria is right here…she's_ always _been here. But still…_

Shadow crossed the remaining feet separating him from Maria and hugged her. Maria jumped at Shadow's sudden action, but she quickly returned the hug. Caressing his quills, she softly told him, "It's alright. I'm not going anywhere."

* * *

On the ARK, there was very little one could do.

Being a top-secret research facility where weapons were produced, there wasn't many fun activities for a young girl and her hedgehog friend to do except stargaze.

As such, Shadow walked around the Space Colony with Maria by his side for the majority of their time together. Despite this limitation, they enjoyed each other's company. Usually, they passed the time discussing what it might be like on Earth and how they would try everything the world had to offer.

Trending down the familiar corridors of glass planes and silver metal, Shadow's headache continued to linger. No matter what he did, it never went away. Eventually, he stopped in one hallway that offered another shot of the Earth, and he gazed out the window to the world of water.

Maria stopped and glanced back at him. "Is something wrong?"

Shadow remained silent for a moment. He had never been to the world before, and yet something in his mind made him believe his existence would not be well-received by the people down on the surface.

"Do you…do you think the people down there will accept me?"

"Huh?"

"The professor created me as the Ultimate Lifeform, to be the protector of mankind. But the military intended for me to be a weapon for war. Won't the people be afraid of me?"

Maria thought about it. "Hmm. Even if they did, it won't change who you are, will it?"

Her sickly appearance may say one thing, but that kind smile of hers always shined through. "And I know you, Shadow. You're a good person, just like grandfather! Once they see that, I'm certain they will treat you kindly. You'll make lots of friends, too."

Shadow was speechless. Then, he brightened up.

"Yeah…you're right. Thank you."

"Anytime!"

Shadow began to walk with her again when his head experienced a sharp pain.

* * *

" _As if humanity would ever do such a thing."_

* * *

"Ack!"

"Shadow, what's wrong?" Maria held her hand over Shadow's head, trying to comfort him.

"I…I'm fine."

Shadow tried to insist he was ok, but Maria saw through it.

"We should get you to the medical bay."

"No, it's alright. Really."

"Please, Shadow." Maria's eyes suddenly became misty with concern. Seeing her this way, Shadow couldn't say no.

He sighed. "Ok."

Maria took his hand and the two changed routes to the medical bay. All the while, Shadow's headache continued to worsen.

 _That voice,_ he thought. _I know it, but from where?_

The mysterious voice in his head was someone he had met recently, too. Almost as if it were a few minutes ago.

When they had reached the medical bay, the professor had Shadow be put in a stasis pod. His diagnosis was that Shadow's body was trying to adjust to the Chaos Energy that flowed through him.

That was the most likely culprit and the reason for half of his visits to the medical bay, the other half being to see Maria when she had her treatments. For a while, the headaches he had gotten were small and usually went away after a few minutes. Plus, they weren't occurring as much anymore.

But this time, the headache was excruciating and long-lasting. Whatever was causing it, though, a little bit of time in stasis should help.

Once he was in the pod while the professor readied the sleep cycle parameters, Shadow told Maria, "This won't be long."

Maria smiled. "I know. Sweet dreams."

When the pod door closed, sleeping gas came flooding in, and Shadow fell asleep as a breathable liquid filled the pod.

* * *

" _The people of this world won't spare you. They don't even spare the weakest among themselves."_

"Stop! Let go of the lever."

" _The ones in charge always think for themselves…"_

"Don't fool around with me!"

"… _and leave the young ones to suffer."_

"Stop!"

 _Clunk!_

"STOP!"

 _BANG!_

* * *

Shadow woke up right as the gun fired. Before his eyes, he watched Maria get shot by a military officer in heavy armor.

A GUN raid trooper.

"Maria!"

Shadow punched through the glass with tremendous force, shattering it instantly. The shards bounced off the floor towards the GUN soldier, who frantically tried to reload. Unable to keep his hand steady, the rounds of ammo he tried to place into his submachine gun fell clumsily out of his hand. He could only watch in horror as Shadow landed a critical blow to his head, knocking him back.

"It's the experiment! Don't let it escape!"

Shadow attempted to close the door, but the heavy lock controls were damaged on the other side, resulting in the emergency opening sequence to kick in.

He had to make a barricade of his own.

Gazing up at the ceiling outside the door, he swiped his hand in front of him.

"Chaos Spear!"

The energy that sprang forth collided with the ceiling and wall, creating an explosion that brought both tumbling down. From the other side, Shadow could hear the frustrated voices of other GUN soldiers.

"Damn it! It sealed off the way!"

"You! Take your squad and head around the back. Try and cut them off. The rest of you, take these scientists to the extraction point. Don't let them out of your sight. Remember, the Ultimate Lifeform and Professor Gerald are priority one! Move out!"

Footsteps could be heard moving away from the rubble. Once Shadow was sure they left, he raced over towards Maria.

"Maria! Are you alright?"

She winced in pain, but weakly responded, "Y-yes. I think so."

Shadow glossed over her body for the bullet wound and found it had struck her left shoulder. Normally, it was a safe spot to be shot it, not being anywhere near a critical organ. However, Maria's health was not in the best shape, so Shadow had to seal the wound now.

"Hang on. I need to patch this up."

Using some bandages from a nearby container, he wrapped Maria's wound to stop the bleeding. All the while, Maria stared at the unconscious soldier nearby.

"How horrible! I can't believe my own kind would do such a thing. They don't care about us at all!"

Shadow's head started to ache intensely again. The headache hadn't gone away completely, this much he knew since waking up. The adrenaline from watching Maria getting shot and the soldier attempting to kill him nulled it to some degree, but the pain came back in force.

 _Why is this happening?_

* * *

" _This is terrible! The researchers here are good people. Why are they attacking us?"_

* * *

As Shadow tried to shake the pain away, he suddenly heard Maria's voice echoing in his mind. An image of the same scene that had just transpired played out differently just now.

 _What the…am I hallucinating?_

Shadow finished bandaging the wound and pulled Maria up with her good hand.

"We need to find the professor and get out of here."

Maria stood there, looking as though she were about to cry, but she soon nodded and followed Shadow.

They exited the room from the emergency hatch located in a corner of the room under a hidden tile. As the ARK was a military-funded research facility of the United Federation, it was sure to have some defense systems and protocols in place should invaders attempt to seize control of it. One of the measures made was a hidden set of passageways and shortcuts that led to different areas of the ARK's main facilities.

Shadow had memorized them all during his time here, being a protector of the ARK. Thus, he easily knew which way to go. From the medical bay, go right, straight until the red sign labeled "DANGER", then left, and so on.

Finally, they had reached Professor Robotnik's living quarters, where another hatch door rested shut above them.

Shadow carefully lifted the hatch door, inspecting the room for any soldiers. He lowered the door when he heard footsteps, but relaxed as soon as he realized who they belonged to.

"How did it come to this? I just needed more time."

"Professor!"

Shadow silently called out to his creator from beneath the hatch door. Gerald Robotnik glanced around the room, but he couldn't find the source.

"Huh? Wh-who's there?"

"It's Shadow. Down here."

Gerald looked down at the floor and saw the crimson eyes of his creation peeking out from the hatch door in the corner.

"Shadow! Thank goodness it's you!"

Professor Robotnik, in his usual getup of a lab coat and thick blue glasses, bent over to open the hatch door and pull Shadow and Maria in.

"Oh Maria! I'm so glad you're ok!"

"Thank you, grandfather. I'm happy your safe as well."

Shadow turned to Gerald. "Professor, what's going on?!"

"It's the United Federation. They've decided that Project Shadow was too dangerous and that it must be shut down. I had hoped this day would never come, that I could convince them that the research being conducted was for the good of all mankind, but they didn't listen."

Rapid gunshots echoed off the hallway walls outside the professor's quarters. They were fairly distant.

"Now," Gerald continued. "GUN has been dispatched to take us all into custody." He banged his hands on his desk, tears running down towards his large, graying mustache. "I was so close…I just needed more time."

Maria put her hand on Gerald's shoulder. "Grandfather…"

Shadow sympathized with the professor, knowing how important the ARK (and even Shadow himself) were to saving Maria. But now was not the time to cry over what might have been.

"We need to get out of here. Now."

The professor turned to Shadow and, seeing the resolve in his eyes, wiped his eyes and sniffed. "You're right, Shadow." He looked briefly at Maria, then added, "Take Maria and get to the escape capsules in the Northwest sector. I need to finish collecting my research data, but I'll be right behind you."

Shadow nodded, then headed back to the hatch. He motioned to Maria to head in first, but she looked towards the room's main entrance, which had been sealed shut in this emergency.

"The researchers…"

"Hm?"

Shadow and the professor both stared at Maria, who then shut her eyes for a moment before reopening them and facing the two.

"I guess there's no saving them now. They should have been more careful."

Maria then climbed down through the hatch door and into the passageway below.

Right as Shadow had another strong stinging sensation in his head.

* * *

" _The researchers…"_

" _Hm?"_

 _Shadow and the professor both stared at Maria, who then shut her eyes for a moment before reopening them and facing Shadow._

" _Shadow, I just can't leave everyone else behind!"_

 _She reached out to grab Shadow's hands. "Please! You need to rescue the people being held by the GUN soldiers in the laboratory!"_

 _Shadow saw the pleading eyes and tone in Maria's voice._

She's so selfless, _Shadow thought._

 _He nodded. "Ok."_

* * *

"Rrgh!"

Shadow's head was pounding like crazy. This wasn't merely a headache, nor was what he saw a hallucination.

It was…almost like a memory.

However, the events playing out now and in that image were different. To top it off, this GUN raid didn't happen before.

It was occurring now, making it impossible for him to remember something nonexistent.

Oddly enough, the Maria in the image acted differently for each situation, a little bit _truer_ to her personality.

"Shadow?"

Professor Gerald was staring at Shadow with concern.

"I'm fine," he assured his creator. "Just thinking."

Shadow then jumped down into the passageway, with Gerald following suite. He ignored the image Maria's wishes this time around and attempted to guide them to the Northwest sector.

Unfortunately, there was a problem.

The passageways didn't extend past the large training room situated before the final stretch to the Northwest Escape Capsule station. In order to proceed to their destination, they would have to exist the hidden passageways and expose themselves.

Preparing himself for this possibility, Shadow led the two Robotniks through the maze until he found the appropriate exit. Instead of an escape hatch, there was a panel and a sliding wall door. Shadow entered in the exit code, and the door slide open. He peeked his head out to check for any nearby soldiers.

When everything seemed safe, he turned to his friends and nodded. "All clear."

The trio exited the passageway. Professor Gerald leaned on the wall, sweating. Maria, however, was panting hard from all the running around.

"Are you all right?"

Shadow cared deeply for her and wished she didn't have to go through this ordeal. One look at her bony structure, and anyone would believe she would shatter into pieces if put under enough pressure.

Maria smiled at Shadow. "I'll be alright. We should keep moving."

"There they are!"

The three turned their heads down one end of the corridor to find a single GUN soldier motioning to his men hidden behind a corner. A few seconds later, a group of soldiers appeared behind the leader of the group, and they ran in the direction of Shadow's group's position.

"Run!"

Shadow took Maria's hand and ran down the other way when Gerald gave the order. The professor entered in a code on the panel before chasing after them.

The hallway began to flash red, an alarm blasting all around. Over the intercoms, a voice recording rang alongside the alarm.

" **EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! UNKNOWN THREAT DETECTED. ALL BLAST DOORS ARE NOW BEING SHUT!"**

The leader of the GUN soldiers shouted to his squad mates, "Stop them! We can't let them get away!"

Ahead of Shadow, one of the blast doors in the ARK was about to close.

"Keep going!" Professor Gerald cried out, then turned to face the GUN soldiers head on. He succeeded in pummeling one to the ground before he was apprehended.

It was enough of a distraction. Shadow and Maria made it through to the training room before the blast doors shut completely, while the GUN soldiers were stuck with Professor Gerald on the other side.

Maria ran to the blast doors and banged hard with her delicate right hand. "Grandfather!"

From the other side, Shadow and Maria could hear another order from the GUN leader. "Find them before they escape!"

Shadow tried to approach Maria, telling her they needed to move on, but he was shocked when she screamed in anger.

"You horrible, _horrible_ people! All you care about are yourselves!" She took a moment to breathe, then added, "I hope you all get what's coming for you in the end."

* * *

" _Grandfather!"_

 _From the other side of the blast doors, Shadow and Maria could hear another order from the GUN leader. "Find them before they escape!"_

 _Shadow approached Maria, who was struggling to keep back her tears. "He sacrificed his freedom for us. We have to keep going."_

 _Maria, exhausted from the running and sadness, slid down to her knees._

" _Why are the soldiers doing this to us? The researchers, grandfather…they didn't do anything wrong!"_

 _Shadow wasn't able to provide an answer. This was all so sudden, out of nowhere. All that he was certain of was that the ARK wasn't safe anymore._

 _Still, he tried to console Maria._

" _The researchers are safe, for the most part. Some were able to get off the ARK because you asked that I help them. And the professor will be fine – it would be cruel to hurt someone instrumental to mankind's future."_

 _Maria glanced up at Shadow. Though her eyes were still wet with tears, she seemed to find some solace in that statement._

" _Thank you. I knew I could count on you, Shadow. I'm so sorry this all had to happen."_

* * *

"Shadow? Please, focus!"

"W-what?" Shadow stared at Maria with confusion. His mind was almost split between what was real and what wasn't.

"Please Shadow. We have to keep going!" Maria insisted.

"…Right."

Shadow grabbed Maria's hand and led the way forward. Regretfully, Shadow's last hallucination wasted too much time.

From above, a large vehicle had made its way into the training room and hovered down towards their position. It was circular with a bluish-grey and orange color scheme. Around the top were a set of rocket launchers, and a small cockpit was situated in the front. One GUN soldier was piloting the aircraft.

Maria gasped in fear while Shadow instinctively put a hand in front of her.

"Mantis platoon. Heavy dog reporting in. Primary target and the girl have been located. Acquiring targets. En route to intercept and destroy!"

The GUN soldier gave his update to his superiors and prepared his machine for combat.

Shadow stood dumbstruck. "What the…!"

 _Intercept and destroy? They're going to kill me_ and _Maria?!_

Shadow could not and _would_ not let that happen.

"Maria, run! Take cover!"

Shadow urged her to run away from the immediate area, and she did so.

"Please be careful!"

Shadow raced in the opposite direction on his skates, all the while keeping the Heavy Dog in his sights. As he suspected, it chased after him given his importance.

"This is Heavy Dog. Target is on the move: proceeding to engage and neutralize."

The Heavy Dog launched a series of missiles from its sides, all of them racing towards Shadow's position. Shadow easily dodged each missile by adjusting his direction of travel.

"Target is fast." The GUN agent kept updating his situation to his leaders. "Switching tactics. Charging particle beam cannon!"

 _Particle beam cannon?_ Shadow noticed the Heavy Dog to be glowing a faint red that soon turned to a yellow color.

"…!"

The particle beam cannon was an attack meant for clearing the area, Shadow realized. As he came to this conclusion, the Heavy Dog's glow turned to blue.

"Energy charge complete!"

 _Gotta move!_ Shadow hastily climbed up a series of boxes resting by a wall to get out of the way of the attack. Just as he reached the top…

"Particle beam cannon…fire!"

Shadow jumped off the top of the crates and landed on the head of the Heavy Dog. The GUN agent looked back in shock. "Hey! Get off!"

Shadow didn't listen and began to tear off the rocket launchers hanging off the top rim of the craft. The GUN soldier tried to shake him off by rotating the top portion of the craft at a fast velocity. To prevent the disadvantages of being knocked off forcibly, Shadow grabbed one of the rocket launchers and leapt off, twisting his body in the air to face the Heavy Dog. As he fell to the ground, he locked on to multiple core areas of the Heavy Dog and pulled the trigger.

A barrage of projectiles raced towards the Heavy Dog which, given its huge size, was unable to avoid getting hit.

"Nmph!" The soldier grunted. "Mantis platoon. Heavy Dog to HQ, come in! Requesting emergency assistance in eliminating target!"

Shadow landed on the bottom floor of the room, analyzing his performance. The rockets left a few holes in the aircraft, one of which seemed to lead to the core of the particle beam cannon's power source.

And the fuselage.

Shadow checked the amount of ammo left in his weapon.

Three rockets left.

 _I'll only need one._

The GUN attempted to charge the particle beam cannon again, and Shadow wasted no time in fighting back, instead moving around away from Maria's hiding position. That way, once he made his move, the Heavy Dog would explode a safe distance away.

"Energy charge complete! Take this, you devil!"

The GUN agent prepared to unleash the attack, but Shadow was faster. Aiming carefully, he fired one of the rockets straight through the hole of the aircraft and struck the inside dead-on. The Heavy Dog began to explode all over the body, leaving the pilot frantic.

"Critical damage taken to fuselage. We're losing…aaaaargh!"

The Heavy Dog flew out of control, smashing into the walls of the room until all functionality failed inside, resulting in the craft to plummet to the ground.

"Hmph!" Shadow dropped the rocket launcher and rushed over to Maria's position. She rose cautiously as if the Heavy Dog could come back on at any moment.

"Oh Shadow. Thank you!"

Maria bowed graciously to Shadow, who nodded with a smile. She then walked over to the Heavy Dog's wreckage, inspecting its state. The pilot was miraculously still alive, just in a daze.

Maria frowned. "He deserved it."

"Huh?"

"He shouldn't have gotten in our way. He's just one of many, Shadow."

* * *

" _Oh Shadow. Thank you!"_

 _Maria bowed graciously to Shadow, who nodded with a smile. She then ran over to the Heavy Dog's wreckage, inspecting its state. The pilot was miraculously still alive, just in a daze._

 _Maria bowed apologetically. "I'm really sorry."_

" _Huh?" Shadow raised an eyebrow. "Why are you apologizing to him? He was trying to kill us!"_

" _He's just following his orders, Shadow. He might have people who care about him, just like I care about you."_

* * *

Shadow's head was throbbing, yet he recognized a problem before him.

Maria was acting like a whole new person: instead of caring about others, she looks down on them.

 _There's no way this whole situation could change her this much, could it?_

 _Pff-whosh!_ The dome surrounding the pilot ejected itself from its hinges, the pilot himself struggling to climb out.

Shadow grabbed Maria's hand and ran her out of the training room. They just had to go around one final hallway and seal off the Escape Capsule room. Once inside, it was a straight shot to Earth.

"Whew whew" Shadow and Maria breathed hard in unison as they raced down the metallic tunnel, their footsteps clanging against the plating beneath them. The red and white lights placed throughout the hallway began blurred with each step taken.

Shadow glanced back and noticed more troops on their tail. He was worried, yet tried to maintain a positive attitude. He and Maria were almost at their destination.

But the pain in his head intensified. An array of images and voices started to resonate within him. A blue hedgehog with a cocky grin, and a pink one in a red dress. A tall, red coated man who resembled a younger Gerald Robotnik. A red robot. A white bat girl. All of them familiar.

"…!"

Shadow screeched to a halt at the sight of his own folly. He had overlooked a flaw in Professor Gerald's sacrifice. The emergency protocol he had activated shut all the blast doors in the ARK.

Including the ones to the Escape Capsule room.

Maria turned back to see the soldiers stopping before the two, their weapons mostly lowered. From another hallway, the GUN soldier from the Heavy Dog rushed onto the scene. From the way he clenched his teeth, he wasn't happy.

Maria noticed he was staring at Shadow, who was struggling with the pain in his head at the moment. She reached out her hand, begging the soldier to stop. But the soldier raised his pistol at Shadow, ready to kill.

Shadow's eyes flickered from all the excitement around him. The images, the mysterious figures, this moment now.

This whole thing was a flashback. And he knew how it ended.

Maria stepped in front of him at the last moment, right as the soldier pulled the trigger.

 _ **Bang!**_

"MARIA!"

Maria fell back in slow motion, her eyes closing shut from the pain. She landed with a _thud!_ on the steel walkway, dying it with red.

Shadow shuttered at the sight. Within him, his rage reached a boiling point and, without delay, readied a set of Chaos Spears and assaulted the soldiers with them. The GUN soldiers were knocked back with force, the pain of negative Chaos Energy flowing through them. The blast also caused the roof to partially collapse the two tunnel entrances the soldiers arrived from, keeping them permanently at bay.

Shadow knelt down by Maria, carefully lifting her body.

 _This is bad. This is really bad!_

Despite knowing what would happen, the pain of watching it again torn at Shadow's emotions.

Maria's eyes opened partially. In a weak voice, she said, "Please Shadow…help me…"

Shadow helped her up and kept his arm around her at all times. Going to a nearby console, he entered in the code to disable the blast doors; once they opened, Shadow carefully walked into the Escape Capsule room, taking extra care not to let Maria fall.

The room was a large empty space with windows on the walls and ground. While mostly being an oversized escape pod room, it also served as a balcony on the ARK for gazing the stars and the Earth.

Shadow brought Maria over to the control console that operated the escape capsules. A series of buttons and levers made up the majority of the device, and only a person with training knew how to operate it.

Shadow called for a capsule and waited.

"As soon as we land on Earth, we need to take care of that wound," Shadow stated.

Maria, too fatigued to even stand, wasn't able to respond. Her hand covered the wound in her chest, becoming stained with crimson blood.

When the capsule arrived, Shadow walked Maria over to the glass tube.

 _BOOM!_

An explosion from the outside caused Shadow to lose his balance and fall forward into the capsule, Maria consequently in tow. She stared at Shadow, who had hit his head against the capsule's side.

It seemed the GUN agents were destroying the research laboratories as they tried to escape. All the hard work Maria's grandfather and his colleagues had done, destroyed within a matter of minutes. She looked at Shadow and knew that he may suffer the same fate.

Even if they both made it off of the ARK, she would slow him down with her injury, making it easier for GUN to capture and most likely kill him.

Closing her eyes, she prepared herself for the last conversation with her best friend.

As Shadow tried to clear his head of the dizziness, Maria got up off the ground with the remainder of her strength and used a mini control panel on the capsule to seal it shut.

Shadow saw the door closing in fear. "What?"

He tried banging and kicking the capsule door to no avail, watching as Maria limped towards the main control panel.

"Maria!"

Maria leaned against the control panel, her hands positioned on the rim and on the launch level. She turned to face Shadow with resolve.

"Shadow, I beg of you. Please…do it for me…"

"Maria!" Shadow knew this was a memory, but he desperately hoped things would end differently. He wanted Maria to get in, to see the Earth before she died, so that they could experience it once together.

"For all the people on that planet…avenge me."

"…what?"

 _Maria…asking me…to avenge her?_

Maria continued, breathing heavily. "Those people…don't care about each other. They only…think of themselves. Humanity…even those like you…don't deserve happiness if good people like us suffer. I want you…to punish them."

Shadow's head kept racing with discomfort, but he finally realized what was going on.

Everything before him was a memory of the day the ARK was shut down, the day where he escaped and Maria died. However, the major difference was Maria herself.

She would never ask him that, even on a terrible day like this when her life was at an end.

Maria was a pure soul who believed there was good in everyone, even those tainted by darkness.

 _That's why…she asked me to…_

* * *

 _As Shadow tried to clear his head of the dizziness, Maria got up off the ground with the remainder of her strength and used a mini control panel on the capsule to seal it shut._

 _Shadow saw the door closing in fear. "What?"_

 _He tried banging and kicking the capsule door to no avail, watching as Maria limped towards the main control panel._

" _Maria!"_

 _Maria leaned against the control panel, her hands positioned on the rim and on the launch level. She turned to face Shadow, a bittersweet smile on her face._

" _Shadow, I beg you. Please…do it for me...for a better future!"_

" _Maria!"_

" _For all the people…on that planet…give them a chance to be happy… Let them live for their dreams."_

 _Maria closed her eyes. "Shadow, I know you can do it. That's the reason…you were brought into this world."_

 _The ARK continued to shake from the explosions going on all over the place, but Shadow ignored the vibrations, keeping his eyes fixed on the trembling Maria. Her legs finally gave out, yet she managed to pull down the launch lever as she fell._

" _Maria!"_

 _A timer inside the capsule turned on, displaying 1:00._

 _0:59._

 _0:58._

 _0:57._

 _Maria crawled her way over to the capsule, her wound leaving a trail of blood on the glass and metal floor below._

 _0:45._

 _0:44._

 _Reaching the capsule, Maria kept a smile on her face as she addressed Shadow one last time._

" _Shadow, please promise me…that you'll help people…and be…friends with them."_

" _Maria!"_

" _I'm sure you'll be very happy down there, Shadow. I only wish that I could go along with you."_

 _0:30._

 _0:29._

" _The world looks so beautiful from up here in space…but my grandfather says the people who live there have to face many problems. That's why you were created: to help those people…and to be their friend."_

 _0:10._

 _0:09._

" _Sayonara…Shadow the Hedgehog. Everyone's fate…depends on…you."_

" _MARIA!"_

 _0:01._

 _0:00._

 _The sealed door beneath the capsule opened, and the capsule exited the ARK into the vacuum of space._

* * *

"Who are you?!" Shadow pressed his fists against the glass. "I _know_ you're not the real Maria!"

Maria turned to face him. The resolve on her face faded into frustration. More disturbingly, her eyes were no longer those pretty blue, but a scaly green.

 _Those eyes…Ah!_

Shadow finally remembered what he had been doing before this trip down distorted memory lane. He had ended up in the future with Rouge, worked with Sonic and his friends, and found a way home.

But he stayed behind to interrogate…to fight…

 _Mephiles!_

Shadow recalled he had been pinned down by Mephiles' shadow army after he refused to give in to his offer for vengeance. That must have been the reason his head was throbbing this whole time.

He had to break free, get these shadows off of him.

Knowing what needed to be done, he closed his eyes and concentrated, zeroing the noise from the illusion around him.

With two words, he broke free of the nightmare.

* * *

"Chaos Blast!"

Shadow used the energy stored within him and unleashed a red aura of power expanding from his body. The shadows that had once kept him at bay disintegrated within seconds. As a bonus, Mephiles couldn't stay attached to Shadow as his shadow, unwillingly forcing him to break his hold on the GUN agent.

"What!? Shadow! You…!"

Seeing Mephiles stunned and in the open, Shadow, glowing in crimson energy, focused on his target. "Don't bother to try and deceive me. I know who I am!"

Mephiles grunted, then summoned another legion of minions around him. They swirled around him like a torrent of darkness. "Dance, my shadows, dance!"

The wave of shadows, as Mephiles ordered, rushed rapidly in the air, performing corkscrews and random turns in a rhythmic fashion before hurtling themselves towards Shadow. Jumping out of the way in time, Shadow unleashed a barrage of Chaos Spears at the shadows. The added energy he put into his attack left the spears with an additional discharge so that upon collision, the energy would spread out for a moment before exploding, adding more damage.

So, it was with the shadows who, unable to avoid the attack, were obliterated in an instant.

Mephiles didn't stop there. While Shadow was preoccupied with his minions, he summoned a large sphere of dark energy and purple electricity. Once it was ready, he hurled it at Shadow.

"Take this!"

Shadow noticed the incoming sphere and rolled out of the way, then rushed up to Mephiles and landed a strong left hook in his jaw.

"Gah!"

Mephiles tumbled backward, smacking face first into the ground. Seeing him struggle to get up, Shadow cooled his body down. The red aura that had been surrounding him had vanished.

"It's over, Mephiles." Shadow approached his doppelganger, ready to finish what he had started.

But Mephiles was not as beaten as Shadow was led to believe. Once Shadow was close enough, he stood up arms crossed, then waved his arms to his sides unleashing a hidden sphere of dark energy.

Shadow, unable to move out of the way in time, braced himself for the attack. It ripped into his defenses and pushed him off his feet, knocking him into a nearby stalactite.

 _Crack!_

"Ough!"

The force from the impact broke the pointy rock apart, yet Shadow went right through. Pieces of the debris collided with his body, which added to the pain from the impact. Bouncing off the ground a few times, Shadow's body finally came to a stop at the edge of the platform.

Had the attack been a tad bit more powerful, Shadow may have ended up melting in the lava.

Mephiles crept forward towards him, his feet engulfed in purple flames. Before he closed the distance, the _rat-a-tat!_ of bullets created a line separating the two.

Shadow and Mephiles both turned to see who was intervening, even though Shadow recognized the sound of a particular machine gun being reloading.

"Omega!"

The red robot, whose right hand had been completely replaced with a black machine gun, retracted it and brought out his usual clawed fingers.

" _Now is the designated time. I shall assist."_

"Huh?"

" _Shadow. Rouge asked me to support you."_

Shadow recalled how Omega in this time was in standby mode. It seems Rouge was responsible for his situation.

 _Clever._

"You're just a nuisance…Robot!" Mephiles dismissed Omega, preparing a shockwave of dark energy. Once it was charged up, he fired it straight at Omega, laughing maniacally.

Omega raised his left hand and fired a string of charged, orange energy shots towards the shockwave, dispersing it immediately. Quickly reloading as Mephiles reacted in surprise, Omega fired again, this time targeting Mephiles.

Not a single shot missed.

"Aaaaggghh!" Mephiles shot backwards, colliding with the floor multiple times until he lost momentum. "Errg!"

Omega walked over to Shadow, who had gotten to his feet while Mephiles was preoccupied. Shadow nodded at his friend, then returned his attention to Mephiles, who clumsily got on his own two feet.

 _Not so haughty now, are you?_ Shadow thought.

Mephiles stared at the two for a moment, most likely considering his options. Finally, with a grunt he summoned a whirlpool of dark energy much larger than the spheres was throwing earlier. Instead of attacking, however, he rose from the ground into the vortex of darkness.

Shadow realized he was trying to escape. "Mephiles!"

Wasting no time, Shadow and Omega raced towards the purple vortex and jumped after him, the vortex closing behind them.


End file.
